Dead Men's Tales
by Thatoneguy360
Summary: A few weeks after waking up, Ruby Rose, still reeling from the events of the Battle of Beacon, finds herself taking a mission to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in one of the villages on Patch. All the witnesses swear that the murders were performed by people whom had perished. But ghosts couldn't really be the ones behind this...right?
1. Shadows Never Sleep

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Alrighty then, this will be my first official foray into the world of Fanfiction! So don't go easy on me in the reviews, I'll need all the constructive criticism I can get. I've been reading other people's stories for a couple years now, and have had several ideas of my own, but this one is the first to really get me to start writing. So let's get right to it then!**

 **I do not own RWBY, it belongs to Rooster Teeth and was originally conceived by Monty Oum. May he rest in peace.**

"Dialogue"

 _Thoughts_

'Quotes'

Flashbacks

* * *

If someone was your average everyday individual, they might have described the village of Alaala as a peaceful place, an ideal location to raise a family, or a pleasant little hub where travelers could rest their weary hearts.

Jakob wasn't feeling too 'average' today, so he felt he was just going to stick with 'boring'.

At the age of 13, Jakob felt he had seen more than enough of his hometown to last a lifetime. Each day began and ended with the same old routine over and over again. Even attacks from the Grimm were relatively boring events, given that they would be killed by automatic defense turrets before the villagers would even see them. Anyone who desired nothing more than a peaceful existence would have been right at home here. _Is it too much to ask for a little bit of excitement around here?_ He thought crossly to himself as he prepared himself for bed.

There wasn't even the option of surfing the web in the evenings on his scroll anymore. Jakob didn't really understand why, but rumor had it that they were having some technical issues on the mainland in Vale. Apparently it had been that way since the Vital Festival. _Honestly, you think they would be more careful about that sort of thing._

Even after brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas, Jakob didn't feel ready to go to sleep just yet. Sighing, he quietly walked down the stairs of his house, careful not to wake his parents, and grabbed his coat. Jakob walked outside, sat on the porch, and looked up at the shattered moon. Grimm attacks were not unheard of on this part of Patch, but they were infrequent, and the village had some automated defense systems in the case that one occurred.

Looking around, Jakob noticed someone else was walking around and enjoying the evening. Mrs. Levinson was several hundred yards away, and she seemed even more troubled than he was. Although Jakob was not necessarily anti-social, he didn't currently feel the need to chat with his older neighbor. Every conversation seemed to loop back to how he was doing in homeschooling, and what his plans for the future were.

At his age, Jakob did not feel obligated to plan so far ahead just yet, although he did sometimes dream of applying to Signal to become a Huntsman.

Suddenly, Mrs. Levinson gasped. Jakob jerked his head up in alarm, but she didn't seem frightened. She was looking at something which was just obscured by the walls of another house.

"John?" Mrs. Levinson called out in disbelief. She began walking as quickly as she was able until she walked past where Jakob could see. Curiously, he ran over to the house and stuck his head around the corner.

He couldn't believe his eyes! Old Mr. Levinson was standing there, with the same old smile he always seemed to have. Mrs. Levinson had tears in her eyes, and seemed to be at a loss for words.

Mr. Levinson stepped forward and held out his arms "Hello Victoria". Mrs. Levinson immediately surged forward and gave him a hug so fierce that Jakob almost ran forward to check if she had cracked any ribs.

"John...oh John where have you been? You've been gone for more than a year!"

"Shhhh...we wouldn't want to wake up our neighbors this late." Mr. Levinson stated reasonably. Mrs. Levinson nodded.

 _I'd be surprised if they already hadn't woken anyone up yet_. Although Jakob was a little confused here. From what he had heard...

"Don't worry dear, I was simply held up later than I had thought on the way home from work".

Mrs. Levinson simply continued to cry into Mr. Levinson's shoulders. But Jakob was even more confused. _That answer doesn't make any sense!_ Mr. Levinson had worked at the farm down the road. There was no way he could be gone for a year because he was late from work! Not to mention...

A sickening noise suddenly filled the night air. Jakob looked up, and everything in the world seemed to stop all at once.

Sticking out of Mrs. Levinson's back was the blade of a knife.

Falling to the ground, she struggled to stand back up. "J-John..." With this, she collapsed, and did not get back up. 'John' straightened up, and began to walk into the nearby woods.

At this moment, the reality of the situation fully hit Jakob. A wave of nausea washed over him, and had he eaten recently, he was certain he would have thrown up. Just before Jacob ducked behind the house, he saw Mr. Levinson turn suddenly. The footsteps which had been getting farther away suddenly started coming closer! Jakob's heart leapt into his throat. His own house was on the other side of the road, and he would be seen for sure if he ran there.

In his panic, Jakob ran to the open door of Mrs. Levinson's home and quickly made his way inside, reverently thanking the almighty Oum that she always oiled the hinges on her front door. Looking between the shutters of the nearest window, he saw Mr. Levinson looking around the yard. For a moment, his eyes rested on the house, and Jakob ducked his head quickly.

After several minutes, he brought up the courage to look outside. No one was in sight. This made Jakob even more terrified rather than relieved. _Where did he go? Oh Oum, he could be anywhere!_ Quickly, he went to the nearby closet and hid inside, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't found.

It wasn't until the first rays of sunlight began to peek under the door that Jakob worked up the courage to leave and run straight home, crying out for help. Everyone was shocked and horrified to find Mrs. Levinson had been murdered. But the news was even more chilling when Jakob told them he saw Mr. Levinson was the one who did it.

After all, Mr. Levinson had been dead for over a year now.

* * *

Around a week later on another part of the island...

A lone black and white Corgi trotted down a small dirt path in the woods. Leaves of red and gold spiraled down from the trees around it as a soft breeze jostled the branches. It was such a tranquil fall afternoon, and the dog couldn't help but lie down on the ground and stretch out for a nice long nap...

At that moment, something zoomed by, and red petals joined the falling leaves. Rather than be startled, like any normal animal (or human, for that matter) the corgi leapt to its feet and attempted to chase the disturbance, barking the whole time. A few hundred meters ahead, a blur of red and black settled in a clearing.

Briefly glancing back at the dog, Ruby Rose drew Crescent Rose from its holster on her lower back. A flick of a switch caused several gears to turn, transforming the rifle into its large, intimidating scythe form.

Lowering into a defensive position, Ruby began to weave through several complicated maneuvers and attacks. An overhead slash was followed by blocking an imaginary opponent's attack, and counter attacking with a horizontal strike. She dodged to the right and sliced low with the blade, following up by jamming the blade into the earth to position it for sniper fire. Several swings with the blunt part of the blade impacted into a group of imaginary non-aura using combatants. A series of swipes were used to disable an imaginary mech by taking out its sensors and more dangerous weaponry. A high slice cut off the tail of an imaginary Death Stalker.

Then the corgi tackled Ruby and took her down, licking her face enthusiastically.

"Zweeeeeei!" Ruby tried to sound as reproachful as possible, but it was hard to be serious when a small dog is licking your face, so it came out with a slight giggle as well. Zwei barked and leapt off onto the ground.

Ruby stood, and put her foot down "Zwei, you shouldn't just interrupt me when I'm practicing! Don't you understand how dangerous that could be?"

Zwei answered this by barking once again, and then stood there panting expectantly, which wasn't much a real answer. As expected of any dog, no matter how clever (and nigh indestructible) they may be.

Ruby sighed, and quickly checked her scroll, startled to learn that it had been several hours since she had begun. _Perhaps it would be best to call it a day anyways_. Her dad wouldn't appreciate it if she missed dinner after all. "Well, I guess we can head back. Come on Zwei!"

Without so much as changing the expression on his face, Zwei turned and began to lead the way back. Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its compacted form, and strode along after Zwei. It had been several weeks since she had woken up after the Battle of Beacon. At this point, Ruby felt mostly back in physical form. On the first day after she had woken up, it had hurt to swing her scythe even once. Now, she felt just as comfortable with it as before, although she still ached more than usual afterwards.

It wouldn't do to head out to Haven without being in top form after all. Ruby would need every bit of training possible before she felt ready to begin investigating...

Ruby was so lost in thought that she didn't see that Zwei had stopped until she almost tripped over him. "Woaaah!" At the last second, she caught herself on...a railing? Looking up, she was surprised to see she was already back at the house.

Opening the door, Ruby stepped inside along with Zwei. Already, the house smelled like something delicious was on the stove...and possibly getting a bit burnt.

"Ahhhh, not again!" Ruby quickly moved to the kitchen and shut the stove off, just as her father ran through the other door.

Taiyang moved to the stove and exhaled deeply. "Whew! Looks like you were just in time Ruby! Only the bottom part of the stew was...somewhat burnt." Pouring the stew into a large bowl, it was clear that the entire bottom part of the pot was covered in charred food.

Ruby groaned "Daaaad, how hard can it be to cook stew without burning it! I mean, come on, it's like burning water!"

"I just walked away for a moment, that's all! Besides, there's more than just water in there! There's meat, and veggies, and..."

Ruby sighed. It was often hard to remember that her father was a seasoned huntsman when he acted like such a goof around the house. _I guess you could say the same as Uncle Qrow, but somehow he still seems pretty awesome. Maybe it's because my Dad is, well you know...Dad._

Taiyang began to scoop a serving into three small bowls on the table "In any case, there's plenty that wasn't burnt. We won't have to worry about going hungry tonight!" Picking up one of the bowls, he handed it to Ruby "Could you take this to your sister? Watch out, it's still pretty hot."

Ruby nodded and carefully walked down the hall with the bowl. Ever since the Battle of Beacon, Yang had rarely set foot outside of her room, and usually took meals by herself. On numerous occasions, Ruby had attempted to get Yang to open up again, but to no avail. _I can't really blame her, but I just wish I could help somehow_.

Opening the door to the guest room, Ruby walked in and silently placed the bowl on the dresser. A mumble which might have been "thanks" was all she heard before leaving the room. _Maybe it's true what Uncle Qrow said about not being able to help everyone..._

* * *

Next morning...

Having woken up earlier than the rest of her family (for once!), Ruby walked down one of the paths leading down to a small nearby village. Although, calling it a village would be a bit of a stretch, given how it only consisted of a single tavern, a small post office, a convenience store, and a series of market stalls from nearby farms. It was really more of a small hub, since no one lived there except for the owners of the tavern, convenience store, and the manager of the post office.

Ruby walked into the post office, clutching an envelope in her hand. The clerk behind the counter smiled. "Good morning Miss Rose! How may I help you today?"

"Hello! I'd like to send a letter to a friend!" Ruby placed the envelope on the counter.

After glancing at the address, the clerk responded "It looks like you have the wrong stamp on here. Since this letter is going to the mainland, you'll need a Vale Emblem stamp, not the Patch one."

Flustered, Ruby exclaimed "Oh! Sorry! I guess I forgot about that! It's been a while since I really sent a letter..."

The clerk laughed easily "No problem, we have that stamp in stock, although it costs a bit more than the Patch stamp."

After paying for the new stamp and posting the letter, Ruby went back outside. The letter she had just sent was addressed to Jaune, who was currently staying in what was left of Vale with the other Beacon students. _From what Uncle Qrow said, the people behind the attack on Beacon's trail leads to Haven. It'd be nice to have some backup for when I head over there to investigate._ Although Jaune wasn't one of the strongest fighters, he was pretty smart, and Ruby trusted him to watch her back. Nora and Ren would also be a lot of help if things got ugly.

 _I hope they're doing all right..._ She could only imagine how Jaune felt after the death of his partner, and Nora and Ren couldn't be much better off. Guilt worked its way into Ruby's thoughts. _I promised to bring Pyrrha and Jaune back, but I wasn't able to save her...Maybe they won't want to have anything to do with me after that._ In an attempt to distract herself from these thoughts, Ruby turned and began to examine the nearby board of posted Hunter missions.

On this part of Patch, it was common for families to live in lone cabins in the woods, and to come here for supplies. These families often had at least one or two full time Huntsmen or Huntresses, given that normal families rarely felt secure living in the woods where Grimm could often be found. Because of this, Bullheads landing to pick up and drop off Hunters in this location used to be a common occurrence. However, with the loss of the CCT, it had become necessary for Hunters to make the trek down to the shoreline village, where the Bullhead hangar was located. For the same reason, Hunter requests, which had previously been accessible online via scroll, were now posted on a cork board by the tavern, shipped in via mail.

There were many requests from Vale concerning Grimm extermination, but there were also a few jobs here and there regarding escorts and bounty missions. _I wish I could take one of these, but Dad probably wouldn't want me to go so far_. Although maybe she could get Qrow to take her...?

One of the posters near the bottom caught her eye. It was the only one with a job located on Patch. It was a relatively low reward compared to the rest however. _Investigation: Strange Deaths in the Village of Alaala, huh._ It wasn't the sort of mission Ruby would normally have liked to go on (Search and Destroy was easily her favorite type), so she passed it over.

However, upon second thought, Ruby began studying the poster again. _An investigation mission...maybe this would be good practice for when I'm trying to find the bad guys in Haven!_

Immediately, she took the poster, taking note of the location of Alaala on her scroll map. _It'll probably take about half a day to reach by walking there_. _Faster if I run_.

For the first time in a while, Ruby began to feel excited. A mission was just what she needed to get back in action!

* * *

 **And so it begins! I'm going to try and update this on a weekly basis, or at least every other week. I have a lot of other obligations, and this is more of a hobby compared to my normal work. Regardless, I have most of the story, including the ending, already planned out, so I intend to finish this project. Like I said above, feel free to give any sort of constructive criticism on my writing style or story. It can only help to make the rest of the story run more smoothly.**

 **Hope you'll enjoy Dead Men's Tales!**


	2. The Investigation, Begins!

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Here's the next chapter for this installment! I hope you're enjoying the story so far!**

 **I do not own RWBY, and honestly wouldn't want to. If that was the case, it'd be like knowing what you're getting for your birthday every year. It'd take away part of the magic. Keep up the good work Rooster Teeth, and thank you Monty for bringing us this exciting world.**

"Dialogue"

 _Thoughts_

'Quotes'

Flashbacks

* * *

Unfortunately, it turned out that Uncle Qrow wasn't around. Likely off performing his duties as Ozpin's replacement...something? Ruby had no idea what to call Qrow's current position, and she doubted it was school-related, but that's probably why he was gone.

In the end, Ruby decided to go on her own. _Dad will be waaay too overprotective, and Yang isn't really in the mood to do much of anything._ So she had left a note telling her dad that she'd be gone for about a week, maybe less. _At least I told him, right? That's pretty responsible of me!_

At the moment, Ruby was walking down a path in the woods, headed towards Alaala. Although there were still no online features on the scrolls, they were still capable of offline features like a simple map and compass feature.

As long as she was able to find the main road, there would be no problem getting to Alaala. At that point, it was pretty much a straight shot to the village, and Ruby could use her Semblance to start getting there a bit faster. Even when only using it in short bursts, she could cover a lot of distance very quickly.

A rustle in some nearby bushes snapped Ruby out of her thoughts. "Is someone there?" she called out, placing one hand on her weapon.

Although nothing was visible, Ruby began to feel a familiar presence with her aura. There was no mistaking this dark feeling. There was a Grimm nearby.

Stepping into a ready stance, Ruby drew Crescent Rose and unfolded it into its scythe form. Whatever creature it was, it would be in for a surprise if it thought she was easy prey.

There were a few more sounds of movement in the bushes, and Ruby prepared to spring into action. Moments passed, and it soon became apparent that whatever Grimm was hiding in the bushes was...moving farther away?

"Huh?" There was no mistaking it. Even the presence of the creature was fading. Ruby groaned. "Man! It's been forever since I've been able to fight a Grimm! And the first one I find runs away?!"

Folding Crescent Rose and placing it back in its holster, Ruby continued to follow her scroll. It wasn't much longer before the trees began to open up to reveal a much wider path. The main road!

 _Alright, now getting there will be a breeze!_ Ruby briefly crouched down, before seemly disappearing, leaving some of her signature rose petals behind.

From deep in the woods, just out of Ruby's sensory range, a pair of red eyes watched her go.

* * *

By using her Semblance several times, while only stopping to take short breaks in between, it only took Ruby a few hours to reach her destination, making it early afternoon on her arrival.

 _Wow, this place is pretty nice!_ The forest had given way to fields around half a mile before arriving at the village. Alaala consisted of a collection of houses, all of which had two stories and a porch area. Although it seemed there was a small yard for each home, there was no clear boundary between yards, giving the place a fairly open feeling. In the town center, there were a series of buildings including an inn, a small library, several small stores, and another large building.

Before entering the village, Ruby took a good look at the flyer she was holding. _So I'll be investigating the cause of several strange murders in the village...murders_

"If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and not…well, murderers."

Ruby shook her head violently from side to side. _No, I'm fine. It's been a week since the last time this happened, it's not happening again!_

Unbidden, images began to flash through Ruby's mind. Penny's body lying in several pieces on the arena floor. Roman being devoured by a griffon while she watched. Helpless citizens being carried off by Nevermores, screaming the whole time for help that would not come. Yang with a bloody stump where her arm used to be. Pyrrha with an arrow through her chest...

Abruptly, Ruby grabbed the outside of the sign for Alaala, and banged her head on it. The images stopped, although she had to take a moment to regain her bearings. "Ughh...alright I'm fine I'm fine!"

After managing to orient herself again, Ruby began walking down the road to the center of the village. She encountered several of the villagers on the way. Most of them seemed rather curious about their visitor. One of the nearby women approached "Excuse me miss, you seem to be new to the area. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Um, uh yes! I'm here to help out with this!" Reaching into her pocket, Ruby withdrew the flyer detailing the mission.

The villager seemed a bit surprised. "Oh, you're a huntress? You seem fairly yo- " she paused, embarrassed, before continuing to talk "Well anyways, if that's the case, you'll want to talk with the mayor at the town hall. It's the building right in the middle of the village center."

"Thanks!" Ruby began to make her way to the center of the village. Now that she was closer, she could see a sign on that one large building she had seen earlier. _Town hall...wait I thought this was a village. Shouldn't this be called a village hall or something?_ Shrugging off this random thought, Ruby walked inside.

It seemed to be a fairly informal setting, given that it was a town hall. In the foyer, there was a sign pointing to the direction of the mayor's office. At the door, there was a sign stating "Please knock" as well as some business hours for when the mayor could be expected to be in the office. Seeing that he was currently in, Ruby rapped on the door.

"Come in, come in!" a voice from within the office sounded out. Opening the door, Ruby walked in. The office was filled with cabinets, as well as a desk with a chair in front of it. Papers were scattered all over the desk, where the mayor seemed to be attempting to sort them into a more organized manner, with limited success.

The mayor was a middle aged woman who was only slightly taller than Ruby. Her dark hair had begun to grey, and her face showed some sign of weathering, as if she was often outside. She wore a suit, but the tie was undone and only loosely around her neck.

Looking up from her paperwork, she smiled and spoke in a practiced, cheerful manner "I don't believe I've met you before! You must be a visitor to Alaala." She stood up before continuing "I am Mayor Sininen. What may I do for you?"

Suddenly a bit nervous about pulling this off, Ruby replied "Well...hello! My name is Ruby Rose! I'm here to, uh, do this mission!" Inwardly, she winced _I don't feel like that sounded very confident_.

Mrs. Sininen blinked, then realization seemed to dawn on her "Ohhh, you're with the Beacon group! I thought you weren't getting here until tomorrow!"

Confused, Ruby tilted her head to the side "The group from Beacon? It's true that I was a student there until...well-"

"Are you not with the group we were told was coming?" Mrs. Sininen inquired, looking more confused than ever. "We received a letter yesterday saying that a team of former Beacon students was being sent with an Atlas specialist to take on this mission."

Ruby shifted uncomfortably, instinctively reaching up for her hood before stopping herself from pulling it over her head. "I'm a former student, but I found the flyer for this mission at a mission board near my house. I wanted to see if I could help."

For a long moment, Mrs. Sininen seemed to examine Ruby. With a sigh, she responded "I appreciate it, but I'm not sure this is the type of mission I would feel comfortable assigning to someone of your age."

"I've done a few missions before, I can handle this." Ruby chose to conveniently leave out that these missions consisted of her team's self-assigned attempts to learn what the White Fang was up to, and the one mission where they had been all assigned to Oobleck. She hadn't really gone on a solo mission yet. _She doesn't need to know that._

"I'm not concerned about your ability, I'm just-" Mrs. Sininen sighed again, putting a hand on her head. "This mission will involve an investigation into several murders. This may include analyzing pictures of the murder victims. That will not be a pleasant experience."

 _I know that now_. Ruby internally grimaced, but responded easily enough "That doesn't matter. I'm here, and I'm here to help."

* * *

About 40 minutes later, Ruby exited the town hall, feeling exhausted. It had taken much longer than she would have liked to finally convince the mayor to let her help out. Mrs. Sininen had eventually given reluctant permission for her to perform an investigation, and had given her a signed letter to present to the sheriff. _This was so much easier when I didn't need to ask permission!_

Walking into the station, Ruby noticed the sheriff sleeping on his desk, pen in hand, using whatever document he had been filling out as a pillow. He was around the same height as the mayor, had short blonde hair, and wore a neat blue uniform that signaled his station as a sheriff. "Umm, hello?" She walked up and knocked on his desk.

In an instant, the sheriff sprung awake, Ruby just barely dodging the pen which flew out of his hand and at her face. Now that his face wasn't on the desk, Ruby could see that he had a bushy blond mustache and had an expression that could be described as two parts cheerful, one part wild. The man suddenly spoke, the words coming out rapidly "Whaa!...Oh, sorry miss! I've had a few too many late nights recently I'm afraid, it's never a good thing when this man is too busy! I don't believe I've seen you around, are you a visitor? Just moved in? Oh! How may I help you?"

Ruby had taken a step back during this little speech, a little overwelmed. _He's almost as bad as Oobleck...almost._ "I'm here to assist on this mission." She pulled out the flyer and handed it to him, as well as the signed letter from the mayor.

The sheriff blinked "Oh, excellent! It's always good to have a huntsman around to help when things get dicey. Oh, my apologies, or a huntress! Although I was under the impression that there would be a group coming in to help? Are you a representative of that group? I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself!" He stood, and took of his hat, making an exaggerated movement with it that might have been somewhat close to a bow. "I am Hendrick Berde! You may call me Mr. Berde, and you are?"

"I am Ruby Rose, but you can just call me-"

"Miss Rose! Ah, what a lovely name!"

 _I guess you can call me Miss Rose. Although I guess it makes me sound a bit older..._ "I'm not actually with the group that is coming. I'm from around here, so I figured I could help out.

"Quite an admirable sentiment Miss Rose! Not many are willing to go out of their way to help in these times. It warms my heart that there are youth such as yourself in the world. Now..." Sir Berde sat down, and his expression became a bit more serious. "Perhaps it would be best for us to get down to business."

Ruby blinked at the sudden change in his behavior. _He changed attitudes quickly. Although I guess anyone would take this case seriously, no matter how odd they are._

Speaking a bit more slowly, Mr. Berde began to recount "All of this started a week ago. There have been a total of three victims so far." Reaching into his desk, he pulled out several photographs. "Victoria Levinson, Brian McDuff, and James Faldean."

Ruby looked at the photos, and at once felt bile rise in her throat. In the first photo, a middle aged woman was lying on the ground, with what appeared to be a knife wound in her torso. The second photo was similar, with an elderly man whose throat appeared to be cut. The last photo showed someone who looked like he was around Yang's age. His face appeared waterlogged, and there was a note on the bottom stating 'Cause of death, forcibly drowned in a water barrel.'

Trying to force the unpleasant imagery down, Ruby swallowed, and looked up at Mr. Berde. He bleakly continued "We have only one witness to any of these murders. A boy named Jakob Punainen. He claims that the one who killed Mrs. Levinson was a man named John Levinson." Pausing briefly, he sighed "Her husband."

Ruby looked horrified for a moment, and exclaimed "Why would he kill his own wife?"

"It's not likely that he was the culprit. He's been dead for a year. I attended the funeral in person, saw his body get lowered into the ground."

"What?!" Now Ruby looked more confused than horrified.

Mr. Berde nodded. "I honestly don't know what to think of this. I tried to talk with Jakob to figure this out, and unless the culprit was some long lost twin of his, I can't think of any other logical explanation." Standing up from his desk, and motioning for Ruby to follow him, he walked over to the window. "No one else saw the other deaths happen. I may have already talked to him, but it wouldn't hurt for you to try and get his side of the story. Maybe you'll find something I missed. His house is the one painted with a light blue color, its right next to the grey house you can see from here."

Ruby nodded "Sounds good to me." She winced slightly at the wording. _Nothing really 'sounds good' about this situation._

The two of them walked back to the desk again. After sitting down, Ruby asked "Has anything else happened recently?"

Mr. Berde seemed to be about to say something, but then he closed his mouth and paused, before sighing and continuing "There have been some strange reports from some of the past few nights. People have sworn that they have seen people walking around in the dead of the night, even though everyone has been mostly locking themselves inside since the start of these incidents." Shuffling a pile of reports, he seemed to brace himself momentarily "All of these sightings have been of people who were dead. This has led to people believing that the murders are being committed by ghosts." Although the words seemed skeptical, his face didn't seem as sure.

Ruby shivered a bit and responded "What do you think?"

"In all honesty, I'm not sure what to think. I don't believe in ghosts really, but after all that's been happening...that belief is being shaken."

There was a long moment of silence, before Ruby stood up and broke it "Well, I should probably get started. I'll talk to Jakob, and a few of these other people, and I'll let you know if I find anything."

Mr. Berde nodded. "I'll just need you to sign these forms, to indicate that you are assisting us."

Ruby quickly wrote her signature on each form, briefly scanning them but for the most part skipping over the contents. _Weiss probably wouldn't approve, but I don't think the sheriff is going to try and trick me into signing something bad._

While she was doing this, Mr. Berde walked to another room in the building, bringing a folder with him. He returned with another folder. "I've just made copies of all the related reports and records we have on the case. I'll be giving these to you, in order to help your investigation. Please report any of your finding to me right away." Mr. Berde handed the folder to her. "I wish you luck."

* * *

 **Things seem to be moving along somewhat! Ruby seems to have gotten over the excitement of this new mission rather quickly, but that's to be expected. I would imagine that for the most part, any missions RWBY have done, while they do involve saving people's lives by defeating Grimm or the White Fang, have not necessarily involved instances where they had to deal with people more directly. So this really would be new territory for Ruby at this point, especially since she isn't necessarily the most skilled in social situations.**

 **And any mission where people's deaths are involved may bring up some unpleasant memories as well, after the Battle of Beacon. I would almost be a little disappointed if this isn't touched upon in Volume 4. I'm certain that they will cover grief over Pyrrha's death, and how that affects both Ruby and Jaune, possibly Ren and Nora as well. But there's more to the losses at that battle than the death of a friend. That's going to be part of my goals for this story, to try and convey the impact that the Battle of Beacon has had on Ruby after seeing so much death and sorrow, and not just grief over the loss of her friend.**


	3. Heroes Are Made, Not Born

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Chapter 3 is here! I've taken the liberty of making some minor changes to the other chapters, nothing drastic, just adding chapter names really. From now on, all chapters will have a name. I would have done it sooner, but I didn't want to update the story without there being, well, an actual chapter to upload with it.**

 **I don't own RWBY. I loosely own any OCs that get made, I'm too lazy to file a copyright claim for them so it really is a loose ownership. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Thank you Monty for all your work bringing the world of RWBY to life.**

"Dialogue"

 _Thoughts_

'Quotes'

Flashbacks

* * *

"Arcade Mode Clear! New Record for Soaring Ninja!"

 _Yes!_ Jakob had been playing this game for hours, and hadn't gotten a new record in all of that time. Story mode was kind of repetitive really, just facing random opponents one after the other on varying difficulties. But it would feel kind of odd to just play against computer opponents in Versus Mode.

Honestly, Jakob didn't used to play this game so much. But recently he found it was a good way to distract himself from certain...memories

A knife stuck out of the back of Mrs. Levinson's back, an almost contrite look on Mr. Levinson's face while he stabbed her...

 _Yup! Going to beat this record too!_ Jakob went to pick a character for another run, but at that moment, there was a light knock on the front door. Frowning at the interruption, Jakob stood and walked over to answer it, as his parents were currently out.

Opening, the door, he found a girl he had never seen before, dressed in a vaguely gothic looking outfit and a red hood. _Wow, this girl has some strange tastes._ Out loud, Jakob asked "May I help you?"

The girl nodded "Yes! I'm looking for someone called..." she paused and furtively glanced at a piece of paper "Jakob Punainen?"

"That would be me." Inwardly, Jakob wondered why on earth this girl was looking for him. She only looked a bit older than him, yet he'd never seen her before.

"Oh, great!" She stuck her arm out as if for a handshake "My name is Ruby Rose. You can just call me Ruby."

Jakob took the offered handshake and responded "Nice to meet you, Ruby." _She seems nice enough I guess, if a bit weird, but why is she looking for me in particular?_

This must of shown a bit on his face, as Ruby laughed a bit awkwardly and said "I guess you're wondering why I'm showing up here." At his nod, she seemed to brace herself before continuing "I'm a Huntress in training who is investigating the three murders which happened in the past week."

At this, Jakob suddenly felt very uncomfortable. _So she wants me to tell her what I saw that night..._ He had spent a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to forget, and between the sheriff and this girl, it seemed everyone was determined to keep reminding him.

At the same time, Jakob couldn't help wondering. _This girl is a Huntress? No, she said Huntress in training. But still! She looks two or three years older than me! And they don't really let students take on missions until they're in the higher schools like Beacon or Haven._ Although, it would explain the outfit...and the belt of bullets on it...and what looked like a gun holstered on her back.

Okay, maybe in retrospect, it should have been obvious.

Ruby had been standing there uncomfortably during the time Jakob was going through this thought process. "If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me what you saw happen on that night?"

Jakob frowned a bit "Even if it is too much trouble, it seems like I don't really have a choice" he muttered a bit rebelliously.

Ruby seemed to flinch a bit from that, but recovered quickly "I don't really want to make you talk about it if you don't want to."

 _Damn right I don't want to! I just want to forget it happened at all._ Jakob felt a bit hopeful, maybe he could just say no and she'd go away?

Ruby continued on however "But if you can tell me about it, then we can try to use the information to track down the killer, and prevent this from happening again. It's for the good of everyone in the village."

 _Anddd there's the catch. Of course, I have a choice, but she guilt trips me into telling her anyways._ Jakob thought somewhat bitterly

Yet deep down, Jakob knew this wasn't really fair. Ruby was only speaking the truth, after all. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he refused to cooperate, and could only result in more deaths.

Sighing a bit, Jakob opened the door a bit wider "Come in, we can sit down while I tell you."

* * *

Ruby couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that she had pulled that off. Her first thought was that Jakob was going to be difficult because of the small age gap. Yet aside from a few bumps, everything had gone pretty smoothly.

Jakob led her to a kitchen table, where she pulled out a notebook, ready to jot down anything that might be important. _Weiss would be pretty proud of me actually, taking notes._

Jakob seemed a bit resigned as he began. "On that night, I was outside, because I couldn't sleep. It's usually pretty safe out, even at night you know? I saw Mrs. Levinson was also taking a walk, although I don't think she saw me. Then, she looked shocked, and started talking to someone I couldn't see behind a house. I walked over, and saw that it was Mr. Levinson."

Ruby frowned "You're sure it was him? Not someone who looked like him?"

Jakob shrugged "I'm pretty sure. Not to mention, Mrs. Levinson was convinced too, and you'd think if anyone could tell it wasn't him it would be her."

Ruby nodded, and started writing in her notebook. _Mr. Levinson, recognized by both Jakob and Mrs. Levinson. Met her at night._ She frowned a bit, thinking. "You said he was behind a house?"

Jakob nodded "It was one of the last houses, on the edge of the town."

Ruby added to her notes. _Suspect chose a place that was out of sight to meet her._ "What happened next?"

Jakob stood up and started pacing a bit "They talked a bit. Mrs. Levinson was asking him where he had been. He had a bit of an odd response. After telling her they didn't want to wake up the neighbors, he said he got held up a bit at work. Which doesn't really make sense, because who gets held up for a year?"

 _Told her to be quiet, odd excuse for being gone for so long._ Ruby added to her notes. "And then?"

At this point Jakob was looking away from her, but he continued. "At that point I was thinking about how weird everything he said was, so I wasn't looking at them. But I-I heard this noise, you kn-know? It wasn't really that loud, b-but everything sounds so loud at night you know? And...and..." at this point his shoulders began shaking, and audible sobs could be heard.

Ruby stood up, and put her hands on Jakob's shoulders, murmuring "it's okay, it's okay." _It's not okay, I should know it's not that easy._ Regardless, it seemed to help Jakob begin to calm down.

After a few minutes like that, Jakob seemed to collect himself a bit. He muttered "Thanks" so quietly Ruby could barely hear him. They went and sat back at the table.

Jakob was still a bit pale, but he continued "He had stabbed her with a knife. It was one of those ones that farm workers around here always seem to carry with them. He dropped her and began to walk away as she d-died." A few tears escaped his eyes, but he remained composed

 _Murder weapon, common utility knife._ "Did anything happen after that?"

"At that point, it really hit me what had happened. Just as I was about to go find someone, he turned around. I don't know if he heard me or something, but he began walking towards where I was hiding. I couldn't cross the streets to go back home, because he'd see me, so I went into the open door of Mrs. Levinson's house." Jakob's eyes were alight with fear as he spoke. "I looked out the window, and I saw him in the yard. He looked up at the house, and I ducked down for a bit. When I went to take a peek again, he was gone. I got pretty frightened, so I hid in the closet for a while. After maybe a few hours, I finally left the closet and ran to get help." He put his head on the table "I've never felt so scared in my life."

"I don't blame you. Anyone would have been scared if that happened to them."

Jakob seemed to wilt even more. "I just felt so useless..."

Ruby looked at him questionably. _Surely no one would expect him to do anything, would they? He's just a kid, he shouldn't be so hard on himself._

Jakob continued to lament "I guess, I always wanted something to happen to make things a little more exciting around here, you know? And in my mind, I always saw myself facing whatever trouble or adventure arrived bravely, and in a heroic way, you know? But the only thing I was able to do when something really happened was hide in a closet." He looked up briefly, and seemed to laugh, although it sounded forced. "I guess I should have known I was really a coward."

At this, Ruby felt a little ashamed by her earlier thoughts. _I can say he's just a kid, but he's really just two years younger than me. And at around his age, I blamed myself just as much, maybe even more, for similar reasons._ She watched as he put his head back on the table, seemingly ashamed to look up at her after his speech.

"I don't think you're a coward." Jakob didn't really respond to that, so Ruby went on "I can tell you that it's never easy the first time your life is in danger. The first time I ever fought a Grimm, I was terrified. It felt like my legs turned to jelly as soon as it growled at me, and I actually dropped Crescent Rose-my weapon- at one point." Jakob looked up questionably at that. "If my uncle hadn't been there to kill it, I might have been badly hurt, maybe even killed. After that, I wondered if I truly had what it takes to be a Huntress, you know? But my uncle told me that was natural for everyone to feel afraid at first, maybe even to always feel afraid whenever they're in danger."

Jakob was sitting up straight now, his full attention on her as she continued. "Eventually I was able to fight Grimm, and even find it kind of fun." Ruby smiled, but then comically her smile dropped. "Wait, maybe I shouldn't encourage you to find fighting fun. Ahhh, Weiss would kill me if she thought I was being a bad influence! I, uhh..." Jakob had begun laughing at this point, and Ruby couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

But that faded when Jakob eventually stopped and said "Thanks." At that point, Ruby couldn't help but feel glad she was able to help. _Even if the way my Uncle said it probably sounded a lot cooler._

At the door, Jakob paused before opening it, and turned to look at Ruby gratefully. "Thanks for listening to me talk about all that. I hope it can help you out a little bit. Let me know if you need anything else! I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'll try."

"I appreciate it, thanks!" Ruby wasn't sure if she had learned anything useful, but hopefully she would be able to put it all together eventually.

Waving goodbye to Jakob, Ruby felt better than she had in some time. For a while now, she had felt helpless, after weeks of trying and failing to get through to Yang. But after managing to help Jakob, Ruby felt like she was making a difference again. _I became a Huntress because I want to help people. I will get to the bottom of this case, and I will save this village!_

* * *

A few hours later, Ruby had visited most of the people on her list. For the most part, their stories were a lot shorter. Although none of them had seen any of the murders, they all claimed to have seen dead people wandering the streets at night.

"I saw my mother sitting on our porch a few nights ago. But she died of some disease eight years ago!"

"I was late coming home from work yesterday, and right before I got to my door, I saw ol' Chris strolling the streets. But I could have sworn he had died of old age last month!"

"Little Timmy was playing on the swingset next door when it was dark out, but he fell into the river and drowned over two years ago!"

Ruby's good mood from earlier had faded by this point. This investigation was forcing her to learn about almost every death which had occurred in the village for the past 10 or so years. Although most of them seemed to have died of natural causes, there was the occasional accident which took someone before their time.

 _A 9 year old child fell in the river and drowned..._ At the moment, Ruby was taking a break on the outskirts of the village. She felt drained, all of the stories from today having taken their toll. There had been so much death in her life recently...

"You've got spirit Red, but this is the real world! The real world is cold! The real world doesn't care about spirit! You want to be a hero? Then play the part and die, like every other Huntsman in history!

 _No...No...No no no NO!_ Ruby clutched her head, and began to shiver uncontrollably. None of the breaths she took seemed like they were enough. Every part of her body felt cold, and she couldn't stop shaking. _I have to be able to do this! I have to, I have to!_

Unbidden, Ruby continued to shake, no matter how many times she tried to stop. She stood up suddenly, and took off in a cloud of rose petals. Heading to the far end of the fields around the village, Ruby drew Crescent Rose and began to practice, executing form after form. After several minutes, her body began to calm down, and lost itself in practice.

Once Ruby felt better, she stopped and took a deep breath. _Okay, I can do this_. Beginning to walk back, Ruby took out her notebook to see what she had gathered. All of the murders had occurred outside, and at night. So had all of the "ghost" sightings. _My best bet would be to take watch at night, and to see what happens._

Ruby took out a strawberry flavored nutrition bar and took a bite. If that was the case, she probably should try and get some sleep now, so that she would be more awake at night. Maybe she could get a room at the inn?

 _Naw, actually I have a better idea..._

* * *

For the second time that day, there was a knock at the door. When Jakob opened the door, Ruby was once again on his doorstep. "Oh, hey Ruby! What's up?"

She gave a somewhat sheepish smile "I was wondering if I could take a nap on your couch until it gets dark?"

"Ummm, I'd have to ask my parents, but sure?"

* * *

 **A little bit shorter than the last chapter. Trust me when I say the next one will likely be quite a bit longer.**

 **Ruby's a bit of a prodigy, but even for her there was probably a point where Grimm seemed frightening. It would have taken some time for her to become as comfortable fighting as she is now.**

 **To reassure anyone who has any doubts, although I should think this would all be pretty obvious by now. The OC Jakob is going to play a part in this story. But he's fulfilling that role as a non-combatant, as in he's not suddenly going to be able to do badass things now that Ruby gave him a pep talk. Also, there's no pairing in this story, so he's not going to be paired with Ruby. But I might give him a one-sided hero crush on her. That he'll vehemently deny of course, because he's 13 and in the awkward phase for boys between "girls have cooties" and the phase where crushing on girls becomes the norm. Or boys.**

 **See you next week folks! Things are going to start picking up a bit in the next chapter.**


	4. Shattered Vigil

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Early update! Mostly because the weekend began on a bit of a sour note, and I needed to do something to get my mind off of it. Nothing too tragic happened, just some personal things. I've found writing to be somewhat therapeutic, so I spent more time writing than usual the past day or two. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 **RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and was conceived by Monty. Hopefully he can see how much his work has spread and the influence it has had on all us fans from where he is.**

* * *

The wind blew fiercely past Ruby, causing her cloak to flutter out behind her. Looking around, she found herself on top of an Atlas airship. It was nighttime, the partially shattered moon illuminating the area and revealing a flock of Nevermores and Griffons, all circling the ship in a frenzied mass. _This seems familiar..._

"Well, look who it is!"

Ruby spun around, eyes widening. _I know that voice..._ None other than Roman Torchwick stood before her, leaning on Melodic Cudgel slightly with a condescending smirk.

Roman stood up and gestured in her direction with his cane "Well come on folks! Don't stand on ceremony, let's hear a round of applause for the hero of Vale!" He laughed sardonically. "You did a great job on that, really, I'm sure."

Ruby grimaced "What would you know about any of that?" she shouted back at him.

"Don't be so impatient Red! I'll explain it to you. After all..." Roman's grin faded somewhat "I've got nothing but time since I took a one way trip into the stomach of a Grimm."

The memory flashed by Ruby's eyes. One moment, Roman stood before her, beating her down with his weapon. The next, he was in the mouth of a Griffon, legs still kicking as they went down.

She faltered "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened. Even you didn't deserve to die like that."

Roman strode forward, scowling. "A pretty apology, but you can spare me the empty lies."

Ruby immediately switched back to anger "What do you mean?! How can you-"

"I think it's awfully convenient that you somehow didn't see a Griffon weighing nearly a ton until it was right on top of us." Roman shot back. "I think you did see it. And decided to let me get eaten in order to win."

Horrified, Ruby stepped back "That can't be true!" She tried to recall back to that day. Couldn't help but remember that during Roman's speech, she did see a flicker of movement descending on them. Hadn't paid as much attention to it, as she was busy getting her ribs caved in by Roman's cane. But maybe if she had been more attentive...

Ruby shook her head "What happened to you was awful, but..." she trailed off, unable to say that he had been her enemy. She couldn't help but wonder what it was like to be eaten alive.

Roman was all too happy to continue as she paused "You made a pretty big speech about how you were going to stop us." He chuckled humorously. "You've been a thorn in my side for quite some time, Red. I'll bet you imagined yourself as some kind of hero, hmm? Chase the bad guys, put them in jail, justice is served, all that _garbage_." He hissed out. "But you're no different from any of us. It seems we both believe the ends justifies the means."

Ruby didn't respond to this, wide eyed as she considered it. Was it true? Did she really get Roman eaten on purpose?

Roman suddenly grinned manically and stepped back. "On that note, it seems our time is up, Red. I hope you enjoy your little trip!" He gave a mocking wave and began to walk away

Ruby looked up "Wait, what do you mean, tri-?"

Suddenly, darkness clouded Ruby's vision. She was being squeezed on all sides. Her legs dangled in open air, kicking wildly for a moment, before she was pulled in entirely. As she was pulled in further, she panicked. _I can't breathe, oh god oh god I can't breathe! Letmeoutletmeout LET ME OUT!_

* * *

Gasping, Ruby woke up. Something was still wrapped around her, and she kicked and struggled until it was gone. Ruby sat up quickly, desperately gasping for air.

A few minutes passed, and Ruby's breathing slowed. Looking around, she realized she was still in the guest room of the Punainen household. The blanket for the bed was sprawled out on the floor after having been thrown there by Ruby in her waking moments.

 _It was only a nightmare._ Ruby took another deep breath, this time to try and calm her racing heart. The clock on the nightstand showed it was 9:30 pm, around a half hour earlier than she had planned to wake up. _Well, it's not like I'll be getting back to sleep anytime soon._ She picked up Crescent Rose from the nightstand and holstered it. She smacked both sides of her cheeks a few times. _I can't get distracted by the past, I need to focus on the mission._

Jakob was sitting on the couch as she walked by, playing a video game- Ruby idly noticed it was one of her favorites. Any other day, she might have been interested in talking about it. But she was in no mood at the moment.

Jakob paused, looking up. "You're awake? Going out to catch the bad guy?"

Ruby forced a smile "Yup! Don't worry, I'll do my best!"

Jakob frowned slightly. Maybe he could see she wasn't as cheerful as she let on. But it vanished quickly, and he nodded. "Good luck."

"Thanks" Ruby went to the front door, and opened it. It was dark, the shattered moon being covered by some passing clouds. Across the street, she could see that Mr. Berde was also exiting the station, a serious expression on his face. Ruby had let him know of her plan to try and stake out the village at night, and he had simply responded 'Two eyes are better than one' before running off to catch some sleep.

Ruby set her shoulders and prepared herself for a long night, hopefully one which would clear up the mysteries of this village once and for all.

* * *

Jakob sat in his bed, awake and staring at the ceiling. It was around 1:00 am, yet he hadn't been able to sleep at all.

 _How can I, knowing what's going on?_ From what Ruby had said, she was planning on keeping watch over the village for the entire night. Apparently, he wasn't the only one to see dead people walking around, and all of the sightings had occurred at nighttime. He shivered _What if this village is haunted? Ghosts don't exist, do they?_

Another part of him was worried. Ruby was a huntress in training, so she was probably more than capable of handling herself. Mr. Berde was also on watch, so she wasn't alone. Even so, he couldn't shake the thought of something happening to her. Ruby had been so nice to him, even after all the attitude he had given her in the beginning of their conversation. If she ended up like Mrs. Levinson...

Sighing, Jakob threw off the blankets and got out of bed. He walked to the kitchen downstairs, and poured himself some water. Leaning against the counter, Jakob took some sips, continuing to brood over the present predicament. He could only hope they were able to catch the killer tonight, so they could all finally stop worrying about it. Assuming that the killer wasn't actually a ghost, that is.

 _Maybe I should take a look outside? Just through the window._ If he saw that Ruby was alright, then at least one of his worries would be alleviated. Jakob opened the blinds of one window, frowning. _I can't see Ruby from this angle._ He closed the blinds, and walked to a window on another wall. Opening the blinds, he looked outside.

Almost immediately, Jakob threw the blinds closed and fell backwards, trembling. "R-Ruby! RUBY!" He shouted, terror in his voice. Only moments later, a frantic knock could be heard on the door.

"Jakob? Jakob, are you okay?!" Jakob half ran, half crawled, towards the door, and opened it up. Ruby stood there with her gun out, looking extremely concerned. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Jakob sat there, breathing heaviliy "I j-j-just saw Mrs. Levinson in the window! That window right there!" He pointed frantically at the left side of the house.

Ruby frowned. "Close the door for a moment, I'll go take a look. Don't open it unless I come back." Jakob nodded, and Ruby seemed to disappear, leaving behind some rose petals. Jakob immediately closed the door backed up.

"Jakob! What's going on!" He looked up to see his father at the foot of the stairs, wielding a bat, and his mother behind him holding a small handgun. Both were looking around for intruders.

There was another knock on the door. "Jakob, it's me again." Jakob went to the door and opened it. Ruby stood there, a frustrated expression on her face. "There didn't seem to be anyone near that side of the house."

His mother walked over to them "What is she talking about?"

Jakob pointed at the window again. "I saw Mrs. Levinson outside of that window, looking into the house!"

His father put a hand on his shoulder. "Son, calm down. We're here, you're safe now." Jakob let out a breath, trying to relax as best as he could. "From what Ruby said, there was no sign of anyone near the side of the house. Maybe your imagination got ahead of you?" His mother nodded, a sympathetic look on her face.

Jakob considered it. Maybe his dad was right? Maybe he was so wracked with guilt that he was starting to see things?

Ruby looked uncomfortable. "About that..." They all turned to look at her. "There was no one there when I got there. But it looked like there were footprints leading away from the window."

The parents looked at her in horror. "You mean...there really was someone outside our window?!" the mother exclaimed.

Ruby nodded "I told Mr. Berde to look around. Please, stay inside." Ruby immediately walked out the door and closed it.

Jakob could only stare at the closed door in silence. What was going on? _Are there really ghosts in this town? Are they really the ones responsible for those three deaths?_

* * *

Ruby caught up with Mr. Berde, who was running alongside the building next to the Punainen home. "Did you see anyone?"

Mr. Berde shook his head. "If there really was someone there, then they're awfully slippery. Or fast. Or both." He pointed up to the rooftop. "Can you get up there and keep watch? I'm going to attempt to flush him out. "

Ruby nodded "Of course."

"Shout if you see anything, and apprehend anyone that's moving around suspiciously." Mr. Berde ran around the corner of the building.

Ruby took a running start, and jumped on the wall of the Punainen household. From there, she used her semblance to jump off the wall and onto the neighboring house. From there, she drew Crescent Rose, engaging the scope. Ruby had recently added a night-vision lens for her weapon, in order to better see targets in the dark. The moon was covered up by clouds, leaving the town almost pitch black save for a few lights from house windows. This would be the perfect time to use it.

Engaging the lens, Ruby scanned the streets and houses nearby the Punainen's home for any sign of movement. Several minutes passed by, but nothing showed itself, even as Mr. Berde switched from house to house, checking for any signs that someone was hiding or had passed through.

Finally, Mr. Berde shouted up "It's no good. I can't find any sign of anyone hiding in the area. Whomever it was, if there was anyone, is long gone."

Ruby placed Crescent Rose back in its holster, and slammed her hand down on the roof in frustration. They had been so close! Yet the culprit had managed to vanish into thin air right under their noses. Jumping down from the roof, Ruby walked over to Mr. Berde, who looked equally as frustrated as she did, maybe even more.

Regardless, he continued "It's entirely possible that they will make another appearance tonight, especially if they are hidden somewhere in the village. We should remain on guard."

Ruby nodded. "I'll keep an eye out." She began walking away, but then a series of gunshots went off in the distance. Ruby turned back. "What was that?"

"That was one of the automatic turrets set out near the edge of the field. Likely, a small pack of Beowolves tried to get past them to the village."

Ruby relaxed. From the sound of it, this was a normal event. She continued her patrol of the village.

From time to time, the gunshots could be heard. Ruby strained her ears and listened. There must have been a lot of Grimm approaching the village. _There is less and less time between each series of shots._

Mr. Berde looked a bit concerned, but it wasn't until the turrets started firing continuously that he spoke. "Something's wrong. These turrets can easily tear through most Grimm, and the armored varieties can't be found on Patch. For the turrets to be going off this much-"

A loud crash could be heard echoing across the field. One of the turrets went silent. Mr. Berde went white, and began to run towards the edge of the village. Ruby ran ahead of him, and scanned the fields with her new scope. She could see the turrets all going off, the flashes of gunfire quite bright in the night vision scope. All except for one turret, which appeared to have been crushed. Running around the turret and towards the village...

A howl pierced through the night. Ruby took aim, and fired. One of the dark shapes crumbled and dissolved, while the rest kept coming. "Grimm are attacking the village! Get ready!" Ruby warned. Mr. Berde looked a bit pale, but nodded, drawing what appeared to be an older model of the assault rifles used by the Atlas Army.

Ruby continued to fire, taking down target after target with unerring accuracy. Strangely enough, she felt more relaxed than she had in weeks. After all the nightmares and panic attacks, hunting Grimm seemed oddly soothing for her. As the Grimm came closer, she shifted Crescent Rose into scythe form, and plunged it into the earth, using the blade as a tripod to fire at the oncoming nightmarish beasts more rapidly. Mr. Berde had also begun firing his weapon, although taking down Grimm at a slower pace than Ruby.

Shell after shell descended to the ground as Ruby mowed down Beowolves. Firing the last round of her clip, she quickly reloaded, scanning the dark field with her eyes. The remaining Beowolves numbered around 30 at this point, with a few more trickling in from the woods from time to time. They were now close to 50 yards away from the edge of the village.

Looking back at Mr. Berde, Ruby noticed how tense he was. _He probably hasn't fought Grimm very often. I should keep him back out of their range._ She twisted her scythe out of the ground, and fired a shot to close the distance to approaching Beowolves. _I will keep the village and everyone in it safe!_

* * *

From the shadows, a figure could be seen leaning against the side of the crushed turret. The turret housing has been severely dented. However, there are no claw marks, rather it looked to have been smashed by a blunt object.

The figure stood up, watching as Ruby engaged the Beowolves. As they began to stroll towards the village, a smirk could be seen on their face.

* * *

 **A little nightmare to highlight why Ruby might be affected by Roman's death. It has more to do with guilt than grief in his case, as compared to Penny or Pyrrha. Although guilt also plays a factor with those two.**

 **Honestly, I pictured this chapter as much longer than it ended up being. Heck, last week I even told you guys to expect a longer chapter! But it doesn't matter that much, as long as the story runs at a good reading pace. I'm not about to start adding words just to meet a self-inflicted word count limit for each chapter.**

 **But I did have an idea for an omake, so here you go! Some practice writing humor for a change.**

* * *

Omake: Always look both ways!

Ruby twisted her scythe out of the ground, and fired a shot behind her to close the distance between herself and the approaching Beowolves. _I will keep the village and everyone in it safe!_

Just as she was closing in on the pack, a loud crash could be heard. The Beowolves and Ruby stopped, and looked back. The porch on one of the nearby houses had collapsed in on itself.

"Miss Rose, do you have any idea what you've done!" Mr. Berde was shouting. "That porch took months to finish! And you just went and shot out the support beams holding it up! My wife is going to kill me!" He finished by slumping onto the ground into the fetal position, continuing to moan to himself as he rocked back and forth.

Ruby winced "I'm so sorry!" Mr. Berde remained unresponsive. Ruby sighed and turned back to the Grimm. The Beowolf nearest to her looked at her momentarily, and then shook its head in disappointment. Its companions surrounded Mr. Berde, patting him on the shoulder sympathetically while glaring at Ruby.

Ruby looked back at the porch. _Maybe the damage isn't too bad...okay no it definitely is._ She sighed. _Maybe I should be more careful where I fire my baby from now on._

* * *

 **Always look both ways! Especially if you're firing a rifle with a caliber so high it can be used to rocket jump onto buildings. See you next week!**


	5. Isn't it Past Your Bedtime?

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Whaaaaat? First an early update, now two in one week? Well you can consider this update to be a Memorial Day special. Always give respect for those who die in the line of duty, and veterans as well. You may not agree with the ideals of the government of whatever country you live in, but it takes a special kind of courage to become a soldier and fight for your country.**

 **May all those who died in the defense of their countries rest in peace.**

 **I do not own RWBY, it is owned by Roosterteeth and was conceived by Monty Oum.**

* * *

Closing the distance between herself and the first Beowolf, Ruby shot past it, beheading it with a single strike. Another one made to strike at her, but she ducked beneath its claws and used a shot-assisted strike to cut it in half, taking down another one with the shot in the process. Extending Crescent Rose's blade, Ruby spun, taking down a small group which all attempted to attack her at once. _Good, seems like they're mostly going after me._

A series of shots mowed down one of the Beowolves running past her. Mr. Berde seemed to have caught on, and was targeting the ones going after the village, while Ruby drew the attention of the majority of the pack.

Ruby swung her scythe in an overhead arc, impaling a lunging Beowolf into the ground. From there, she fired her rifle at an approaching group, mowing them down. One of them approached from the side however, and managed to land a hit, dislodging Ruby- and thankfully, Crescent Rose as well- and sending her stumbling back. It continued forward to attack again, but a flash of red steel ended its life before it had the chance. Utilizing her semblance, Ruby sped out of sight, killing all the Beowolves in the area around her in a flurry of rose petals.

Breathing hard after that maneuver, Ruby used her limited breathing space to give the situation a once over. Most of the Grimm were Beowolves, although off in the distance she could see there were a few Ursa Minors approaching. The Ursa were getting cut down in short order by the turrets however, lacking both the mobility of the Beowolves and the necessary armor to tank the shots. After the initial wave of Beowolves, others continued to leak through the gap in the auto-defenses, albeit more slowly.

A number of Beowolves surged forward, forcing Ruby out of her observations. She easily cut down the first few, but a strike from one of them forced her to block. Another Beowolf attacked from the side, forcing her to jump above it. Ruby kicked it down into the ground and pivoted on its head, decapitating the first one and fending off another strike from a third attacker, sending it flying past her. Jumping off the grounded Beowolf, she bisected it as it rose. Turning, Ruby was a bit slow to block as the Beowolf from before clawed at her side, but her aura took the blow as she fired, using the shot to slice it in half.

Wincing a bit at the pain, she turned to engage the next group. _This number of Grimm wouldn't be a problem if it were just me fighting them._ If Ruby had been alone, she could have used her speed and range to outlast the horde almost indefinitely, picking them off one by one with her sniper fire and bursts of melee. But she couldn't afford the risk of the Grimm targeting the village instead of her, forcing her to remain in a smaller area, and drawing them all into that area to prevent them from moving past her.

However, it wasn't anything that she couldn't handle. Ruby spun her scythe around herself, slicing down five Beowolves at once. A few were able to run past her, but they were systematically shot down by Mr. Berde. They shouldn't have a problem keeping the Grimm out of the village. Ruby might have to take a few hits every so now and then, but it would be worth it. She shouted "Let's keep it up!" and surged forward to engage a new group.

* * *

At this point, the clouds had parted, allowing light from the shattered moon to illuminate the fields. A number of people had been woken up by the commotion, and were watching the battle from their windows. There were a surprising amount of people in the village whom had never seen a Grimm in person before, thanks to their automatic defense system. They all seemed frozen in fear, watching the fight with a desperate hope in their eyes.

Jakob also felt his fair share of fear while watching. But he also couldn't help but feel amazement as well. _Ruby is incredible! And to think she's still in training!_ Most of the time, Jakob couldn't even see what she was doing, just a flash of rose petals and dying Grimm.

Mr. Berde was not even half as impressive by comparison. But he was doing his part to defend the village, and without him things might have been worse. Very few Grimm got by Ruby, and those that did did not get by him.

 _He's certainly doing more to help than the other guy they have out there._ Jakob noted. _Would it kill him to lend them a bit more of a hand?_

Jakob squinted, trying to look at the third figure out on the field. _Who is that guy anyways?_ The third person approached Ruby and the swarm of Beowolves around her. _Oh well._ At least it looked like he was finally stepping up to help out.

* * *

Ruby swung Crescent Rose in a diagonal arc, cutting two Beowolves down. Continuing the motion, she brought it over her head and pinned another into the ground, and once again fired on the rest. Once more, another Beowolf approached from the side, but this time Ruby was ready, vaulting up using the shaft of Crescent Rose to deliver a powerful kick, breaking its neck.

Landing softly on the ground, her instincts kicked in, making her dive backwards to avoid a sudden blow from the other side. As Ruby stood back up, another blow struck her in the ribs, propelling her backwards and onto the ground. One Beowolf leapt at her while she was vunerable, and she rolled, slicing upwards with her weapon to take it out.

Ruby turned back out towards the field. _Those attacks didn't feel like they came from a Grimm._ But she couldn't see anything else around at the moment. Another group approached, and Ruby surged forward, taking them out quickly. Immediately she turned, and blocked the overhead strike being thrown at her by...

Eyes wide, Ruby stared up at the figure. _It can't be! You're dead, I saw you die!_

Adjusting its hat with one hand, the figure smirked. "Why hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Roman?!" Ruby gasped. In that moment, Melodic Cudgel whistled towards her, and she jumped back to avoid it. Only to take a hit from one of the Beowolves nearby. Turning, Ruby dispatched the Grimm, but she was then forced back by another blow from Roman. Ruby glared at him. "What are you doing here? How did you survive?" Not giving him a chance to answer, she jetted forward, aiming Crescent Rose at his torso.

Roman blocked the strike with ease, and shot one of his arms out to strike Ruby directly in the face. Dazed, Ruby tried to retreat, only for the handle of Roman's cane to pull her back into another strike. Instead of retreating backwards, she ducked beneath it and surged past him, slashing Crescent Rose at his body.

Something felt odd as she connected. There wasn't the usual resistance one felt from aura. Ruby turned, to see black smoke healing what appeared to be a horrid wound in Roman's side. Moments later, it was gone. Roman grumbled as he patted down his coat. "Just got this thing cleaned..."

Ruby ignored him, firing at the group of Beowolves approaching the village. She managed to take most of them out, leaving a few for Mr. Berde. Turning, Ruby was just in time to block a horizontal strike from Roman. "How did you do that?" She demanded. "Is that your semblance?"

Roman only grinned. "I may be a gambling man, but even I know there are some bets you just don't take."

Ruby pushed him back and fired, swinging at an angle downwards. Roman partially blocked it, but the blade plunged into his side. Again, the black smoke healed the wound. "That doesn't answer my question!" Ruby yelled. Another Beowolf jumped at her, and she cut it in half, only to get nailed in the head by Roman's cane. She staggered back, but remained on her feet. "Why are you helping the Grimm destroy the village?"

Gesturing to the Beowolves, which were completely ignoring him, Roman spoke "You know the old saying, if you can't beat 'em-".

There was a pause. Ruby was thoroughly confused now. Why didn't he finish his sentence?

Suddenly, there was a shout from behind. Ruby turned, and saw that while she was engaging Roman, a small pack of Beowolves had broken past her. Mr. Berde was shooting them down as fast as he could, but now four of them were in melee range. To her relief, he had his aura unlocked, but the first blow battered him to the ground. Mr. Berde shot one point blank, killing it, but another pounced on him. Ruby fired, accurately taking down the one on top of him. The other two swarmed forward, obscuring Ruby's view. One fell to more bullets, but the other struck. Mr. Berde rolled back out of the way, but it continued to advance, joined by another one.

Ruby fired backwards, intending to help him out. But while she was flying towards the village, something wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her to the ground and dragging her back.

"Let me make this clear!" Roman lectured. "We're not through here yet!"

Mr. Berde took one of the Beowolves down, but not before he was clipped across the body with its claws. Ruby watched in horror as the second one attacked, its claw ripping through the last of Mr. Berde's aura and scoring a deep gash in his shoulder and across his chest. He let out a pained scream, falling to the ground. The Beowolf rose up, preparing to finish the job...

As she was being dragged, Ruby managed to transform Crescent Rose into gun form and fired, taking down the Beowolf before it could strike. Its body landed on Mr. Berde's legs, causing another pained outburst. _This isn't good! He's in no condition to defend the village now!_

Ruby broke free of Melodic Cudgel, and sped towards the village, turning to fire at the approaching Beowolves. They withered under her onslaught, but a few managed to break through. Shifting into scythe form and slicing in the same movement, Ruby took them down. Once again, she took a blow to the ribs from Roman, followed by a thrust into her sternum, forcing her back.

A sinister grin formed on his face, and he strode forward. Ruby grimaced. _Defending the village from both the Grimm and Roman will be nearly impossible!_

Suddenly, Roman stopped, a frown forming on his face. He glanced off into the distance briefly, before turning back, twirling his cane around his fingers. "Well Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around..." He pointed his cane directly at Ruby, and she tensed, expecting a shot. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

Ruby prepared to dodge, but what happened was nothing like she had expected. Suddenly, Roman dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, which flowed out of the village and into the surrounding forest. The remainder of the Beowolves surged forward, but they had stopped trickling into the field. Ruby took down the rest quickly, then she ran towards the village. "Mr. Berde!"

Mr. Berde coughed, wincing at the motion. "Ughhh...sorry Miss Rose. I wasn't as much use as I would have hoped for."

"It's okay, but we need to get you treated! Hey!" Ruby directed her shout at the people in their homes. "Someone bring some first aid!"

A green haired woman with a pale complexion ran out of her house and towards Mr. Berde, looking terrified "Hendrick!" Some others also ran out, all carrying bandages and other first aid supplies. The first woman turned to another, pleading. "Doctor, can you save him?"

The second woman looked grim, but nodded. "This is a serious wound, but it didn't strike anything fatal." She took a bundle of cloth and immediately pressed down on the clawmark. "He's lucky he has aura, otherwise he might have lost the use of his arm indefinitely."

Ruby had walked off, staring at the spot where Roman had disappeared. _How did he do that?_ Nothing about his appearance had made sense. He responded to all of her questions in a very unusual manner, and it was almost as if he didn't even have aura, just his black smoke trick. Not to mention there was no way he could have survived the Battle of Beacon...

Sudden chills ran down Ruby's spine. What if...he hadn't survived? And his appearance tonight was just like all the other sightings in the village? _Are...are ghosts real? Are they really the ones behind this?_

"You!" Ruby flinched as the woman from earlier, presumably Mrs. Berde, stormed towards her with rage in her eyes. "If you had done your job better, my husband wouldn't have nearly died!"

Some of the villagers tried to hold her back, but she pushed them off and stepped right in Ruby's face, jabbing a finger into her chest. "You thought you're a real hotshot, don't you? Coming to this town, pretending to be some sort of official Huntress, and muddying the waters of the case here. But you couldn't even properly defend the town! Some hero you turned out to be!"

"Margret!" Mr. Berde tried to sit up, but winced and collapsed with pain. Regardless, he continued "Don't be so hard on her."

"I agree." Everyone turned to Mrs. Sininen, who had just approached the group. "I had my doubts about letting her help out at first. But it's no exaggeration that if Ruby hadn't been here tonight, we would all be dead right now."

Mrs. Berde's hands clenched, but then relaxed. Her face filled with shame she turned back to Ruby. "I'm sorry, I was over the line. And you managed to save my husband's life as well. Forgive me."

Ruby nodded numbly "It's okay." But the words had done their damage. _My fault, I wasn't able to protect him._ She walked past and headed to the Punainen house, while the doctor was placing Mr. Berde on a stretcher. As the sun began to rise in the distance, Ruby could only reflect on how badly he had been hurt.

 _Maybe it is true what Uncle Qrow said. I can't protect everyone, no matter how hard I try._

* * *

Around the same time...

A Bullhead flew through the air over the forested area of Patch, the wind from its passage causing the branches to part beneath it.

The pilot called back to its passengers. "We'll arrive at the village of Alaala in approximately 20 minutes, sir. Please prepare for arrival."

A man wearing a white uniform and coat nodded in response. "Thank you." He turned to his passengers. "You heard him, gather your things. We're almost there."

There were a group of assembled grumbles as four figures rose, picking up their backpacks and weapons. One of them stretched, saying "Finally! You think it wouldn't take so long to travel from Vale to Patch!"

The uniformed man sighed. "If the CCT wasn't down, we could easily take the more straightforward route. However, we are forced to travel as close to land as possible, just in case the Bullhead goes down, as we have no way to communicate for help if we were downed over the water."

"Yeah yeah, I got it." One particularly large individual quipped. "So what exactly are we doing again?"

"We will be investigating the village to locate the cause of the strange deaths occurring in the past week."

One of the smaller figures looked up. "It sounds like you don't think it's just some crazy guy killing people."

The uniformed figure nodded. "The report we got from the village had several strange occurrences attached. We will need to be on guard, there is no telling what we will have to face."

At that, Cardin grinned. "Well at least this job might not be as boring as I thought it was going to be."

* * *

 **So I wonder how many of you thought the Atlas specialist I mentioned in chapter 2 was going to be Winter? My apologies, it's going to be an OC. I would use Winter, except I feel like she'd be overpowered for the fights they will encounter, and I can't think of a good reason for her to actually be there. The OC will fufill a very specific role, one which not many characters in the show would easily fill. It's difficult to write this story without having at least a few OCs playing major roles. I**

 **Now I wonder if anyone had any guesses as to which team was coming to Beacon? And I wonder if anyone guessed correctly?**

 **I had a fun time writing the fight scenes in this chapter (which is good because that was a significant part of the chapter) so I hope you enjoyed them! Let me know through reviews! Either that, or point out areas I could improve. See you next week!**


	6. The Wings of Old Grudges

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Woahhh almost didn't get this chapter out on time. I would have posted it earlier, but I would rather make sure that everything was to my liking rather than rush an update. I do understand that I'm on a self-inflicted schedule, but I like to try and keep to that schedule haha.**

 **I do not own RWBY. It is owned by Roosterteeth, and was conceived by Monty Oum. I regret that I only discovered his amazing work after he had already passed away. May he rest in peace.**

* * *

Ruby opened the door to the guest room, and walked over to her bag glumly. Reaching inside, she pulled out another nutrition bar, but she didn't open it yet. Ruby leaned against the wall, tapping the bar against her head a few times. _Well, in the end, things didn't go too badly I guess. I still feel bad for Mr. Berde, but at least he survived, and the village is safe for now._ Yet it was more difficult to

There was a knock on the door. "Yes?" Ruby called, walking over to open it.

It was Jakob. "Hey Ruby." He looked exhausted, although probably not as bad as she looked.

Ruby realized she should probably go to sleep soon. With one of the turrets down, she'd have to defend the village by herself again the next evening. _It was hard enough with the two of us, but now that Mr. Berde is down, I'll have to take on all of the Grimm by myself._ Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Ruby realized that Jakob was still standing there, looking like he wanted to say something. "What's up?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, and then immediately blurted out "Are you okay?" Immediately afterwards, Jakob moved to clarify "I m-mean, after Mrs. Berde said all of those things."

"It's not that bad. She was just stressed, that's all." Ruby shrugged, a concerned look forming on her face. "I just hope Mr. Berde will be okay."

"I'm sure he'll be fine!" I mean, the doctor said he would be, right?" Jakob didn't really sound all that convincing. Most likely, he was trying to reassure himself more than Ruby of what he was saying.

Flipping the bar in her hand, Ruby made to open it. Jakob noticed, and gave her a questioning look. Ruby looked back. "What? I get hungry too, you know."

"No, I get that, but my mom is making breakfast. Pancakes, if you want them."

 _Tempting._ Any warm food sounded about 10 times better than a nutrition bar. _Although, I wouldn't want to be a bother-_

"Also, she makes a homemade strawberry sauce for the-." Jakob blinked, and instead of a red hooded huntress in training in front of him, there were only a few rose petals, flickering in the air. "-huh."

* * *

Cardin jumped out of the Bullhead almost before it had even touched down on the field just outside of the village. _Ohhh, much better._ He stretched out his limbs, making several cracking noises. His teammates were quick to do the same. Being cooped up inside of a vehicle for just over a day had definitely stiffened them all up.

The older man with them stepped off of the vehicle calmly, although he also stretched out his limbs. "Pilot, remain here for a moment. I want to confirm the situation before you depart."

"Roger that sir!" The pilot gave a salute, and shut down the Bullhead, standing up just like all of the others.

Dove looked around the village. "This place is kind of nice."

Russel snorted at that. "If by that you mean dull as all hell, then sure." Cardin and Sky chuckled at that statement, and Dove couldn't help but crack a smirk as well.

Ignoring their statements, the older man gestured for them to follow him into the village. "We need to meet up with the sheriff. He will bring us up to date on the situation"

As they walked, Cardin noticed there were a lot of people standing around, muttering to themselves. Many of them were wearing sleepwear. "Lots of people up awfully early today."

At that, Russel puffed up his chest. "Maybe they were excited to hear we were coming?"

Dove frowned. "They don't exactly look very happy."

"There is a panicked vibe in the air." The older man looked grim as he spoke. "Something bad has happened, and recently."

Walking up to one of the villagers, Sky tapped them on the shoulders. "Could you direct us to the sheriff? We're the group from Beacon, come to assist with the case."

The villager looked pale. "The sheriff is in that building, but he's in pretty bad shape. Please, try not to disturb him if you can."

Sky nodded "We'll keep that in mind."

Now their whole group had a grave expression on their faces as they walked to where they had been directed. _If the sheriff is wounded, then things have really gone to hell around here._ Cardin was beginning to regret his words about the mission being interesting. _Interesting doesn't always mean good I guess._

Upon reaching the building, the older man turned. "Cardin, you'll come in with me. The rest of you, remain outside. We don't want to crowd the sheriff if he's wounded."

The group all assented with a nod, and none of them seemed too disappointed. They would only be missing out on the mission briefing, which they assumed would be pretty dull. Cardin could relay anything important back to them anyways.

Cardin walked up the steps and opened the door. The inside was all white, with a few patient's beds scattered here and there. Racks of medical equipment stood in the corners. On one bed, a patient was being treated for a massive wound to his shoulder and chest by a couple of nurses. Cardin couldn't help but wince. _That sure as hell looks painful._

A woman, presumably the doctor, walked towards them. "How may I help you? Please keep it brief, as I have a patient in need of attention."

"Forgive me. We were told to present ourselves to the sheriff on our arrival. If his condition is unstable, we shall return later." The older man made to leave.

"W-wait." The man, presumably the sheriff, made to rise, but immediately winced and lay back down. "...you can talk to Miss Rose for details on what happened."

 _Miss Rose?_ Cardin clenched his teeth in annoyance. _He doesn't mean...?_

The man beside him looked back "Where can I find this Miss Rose?"

Hurriedly, the doctor pointed across the street at a house. "She is staying at the Punainen house at the moment."

He nodded, motioning to Cardin to follow him out the door. "I wish you a speedy recovery."

Carding trailed after him, but his thoughts were elsewhere. _If that entitled little brat is really here..._

* * *

There was a knock at the door. Jakob walked over to answer it, and found an older man with greying hair in a white coat, along with a group of male teenagers in armor. "Umm, can I help you?"

"We are looking for a Miss Rose." The older man answered. "I was under the impression she is currently staying here?"

Jakob nodded. "That's right. Wait here a moment, I'll go get her." Leaving the door propped slightly open, he walked back into the kitchen, where Ruby was putting away her plate from breakfast. "Hey Ruby, there's an old guy and a group of teenagers here? They kinda look like hunters, like you."

Ruby looked a bit confused, then she lit up in understanding. "Ohhh, that's right! The mayor mentioned something about another team coming soon. This must be them!" She looked somewhat relieved.

 _Although, now that I think about it, it's not too hard to figure out why_. Last night had looked pretty tough for her, defending the town with only herself and Mr. Berde. 5 people would make that task much easier tonight. Plus, they had more eyes and ears while on stakeout, so if the criminal showed up, they probably wouldn't get away this time.

Jakob followed as Ruby went to the front door and opened it. "Hello, you were looking for-" Ruby suddenly stiffened mid-sentence, pausing for a brief moment before continuing. "- me?"

She wasn't the only one who reacted suddenly. The group of boys all narrowed their eyes slightly, and the tall one glared at her before looking away. _Do these guys all know Ruby? They don't seem happy to see her..._

The older man may have taken note of this, but he seemed to ignore it. "I am Professor Grau Himmel, an Atlas Specialist who has volunteered to guide team CRDL on this investigation mission. I gather from your reactions that you may already be acquainted with them?"

"I wouldn't exactly call us 'acquaintances', but yeah, we know each other." The large one glared at Ruby again, this time not letting up.

Ruby was glaring right back at him. "We were classmates at Beacon."

Grau blinked, and looked at Ruby more closely. "You are also a Huntress in training? Ah, excellent. That makes things much easier. "

Jakob wasn't so sure. Ruby and the larger guy looked like they were about to whip out their weapons and start fighting right there and now. _Why do these guys dislike each other so much?_

However, at that point, Grau spoke sharply, addressing the elephant in the room. "It would seem like you folks don't get along very well. While that's fine and all, I will not tolerate anything less than full cooperation from both sides in this matter. We are all here to help the village, and that is more important than any disputes you two may have. Do I make myself clear?"

Ruby seemed to flinch a bit at that, and immediately stood up a bit straighter. "Uh, yes sir!"

The big guy sighed and looked away, reluctantly muttering. "Alright, fine."

"Good" Grau pointed at a few picnic tables that were standing nearby. "Perhaps we could sit down while we discuss this?"

The group all started walking in that direction, while Jakob stood there uncertainly. Did 'we' include him? As he stood there thinking about it, his mother called him from inside. "Yes mom, I'm coming!" Sending one last look at the group now scattered around the picnic tables, Jakob closed the door.

* * *

Taking a seat at one of the tables, Grau turned to face Ruby. "Miss Rose, I have been told you can help to enlighten me on the situation here."

Ruby nodded, taking a seat on the other side of the table. "Yeah, I've been trying to help Mr. Berde out a bit."

Team CRDL all took seats at the table next to theirs. Although most of them still had a bit of a hard edge to their gaze, Dove was clearly listening intently, and asked "Mr. Berde is the sheriff, right?"

"Yeah, I met with him when I first came to this town." Ruby fidgeted a bit under all of the attention. "I live on this island, so when I heard about the problem I decided to come and help."

Grau leaned forward. "That's very admirable on your part." Cardin seemed to snort at that. "What did he tell you? The mission details were actually quite vague on our end."

"Around a week ago, there was a murder one night." Ruby pointed at the house she had just come from. "Jakob saw it happen. He says that the murderer was someone who died over a year ago."

Dove looked thoughtful "Are they sure he died?"

"From what they told me, they buried him." Ruby shivered. "Other people have also said that they started to see people who had died at night during this week."

Cardin shook his head "That's ridiculous. There's no way the murderer is a ghost." The others also seemed a bit skeptical.

 _I thought the same thing, until last night._ Swallowing, Ruby continued "There were two other murders, both of which happened at night. But nobody saw those ones happen."

"Why was the sheriff injured?" Russel suddenly asked. "Did you guys find the guy?"

Ruby hesitated. "I don't know. We kept watch last night, thinking that we'd be able to catch them. But then, there was a Grimm attack. They damaged one of the automatic turrets defending the town."

Grau looked out towards the outskirts of the village, and furrowed his brow. "Those turrets are placed a long way from the village itself." Clenching his fist, he muttered angrily "Foolish! They sacrificed having a more defensible position just so they could feel safer, and never actually have to see the Grimm attacking the town."

 _Now that I think about it..._ Ruby realized that if the turrets were closer to the town, the coverage from each one would overlap, and losing a single turret wouldn't have nearly gotten everyone in the town killed. "At first, I was able to hold them off, with help from Mr. Berde. But then, someone else showed up."

"Who was that?"

"It looked like Roman Torchwick. You know, the criminal from Vale?"

Grau rubbed his beard thoughfully. "I have heard that name. It seems unusual that a big-time crook like that would even bother with a small village out here on Patch. Are you sure it was him?"

"Not...really." Ruby felt incredibly uncomfortable. "I saw him get eaten by a Griffon during the battle at Beacon. I'm almost certain he is dead."

"But if he is dead, then it couldn't have been him! You must have been mistaken." Cardin didn't look as convinced as he was before however.

"It looked just like him! I've fought him several times before, and whatever this was, it looked like him, talked like him, even fought like him!" Ruby exclaimed. She felt even more uncomfortable now.

"You said 'this' not 'him'." Dove noted. "Why is that?"

Ruby balled her fists, feeling more and more agitated. "Every time I hit it, it would get cut like it didn't even have aura. Yet it always healed up, no matter what it was hit with." Now, she couldn't seem to stop shaking. "And later, he disappeared like smoke. I've never seen him do anything like that when I fought him."

"You don't look too good there." Sky noted. Everyone there had varying degrees of concern or confusion on their face, watching as Ruby stood up suddenly.

"Y-yeah, I don't feel well. I think I might need to go lie down." Ruby immediately took off, not waiting for an answer. _I've got to get myself together! What's wrong with me?_

* * *

 _The hell's wrong with her?_ Cardin turned to Grau. "You're not going to stop her? It didn't sound like she was done telling us what happened."

Frowning, Grau stood up. "We have heard enough. It is clear that the negative emotions caused by the recent string of murders have attracted the Grimm." As he turned towards them, the members of CRDL could see a very dour expression on his face. "We will have to keep watch tonight. Both for sightings of the culprit, and to defend the village from the Grimm. I will have the Bullhead pilot bring in a mechanic team to repair the defenses."

Dove raised his hand. "Won't it take a few days for them to get here?"

"Correct. Therefore, it lies upon us to defend this village until then. Not only that-" Grau's jaw clenched a bit "-we must ensure that we capture the killer no matter what."

"Shouldn't our priority be to keep the Grimm away?" Russel asked.

"We will do that. But keep in mind. Whomever is behind this has caused an undercurrent of fear in the village. It's even possible that they are trying to draw the Grimm here on purpose. If we do not capture them, then it will never end until they are dead or have succeeded in destroying this village. " Grau began walking towards the field. "Cardin, come with me please. The rest of you, wait here."

Cardin swung off the table, giving his team a somewhat apologetic shrug, and followed him. Once they had walked out of earshot, he said "What is it? Why don't you want the others to hear?"

"It isn't really a secret, but I am curious. What strikes you as odd in this situation?" Grau turned and looked Cardin in the eyes.

Glaring back, Cardin responded with some heat "Hell, what isn't weird about this situation! All I've heard about is talk of ghosts trying to kill everyone in the village. How could anyone pull this kind of trick?"

"That's not what I mean."

"What?!" _Then what do you mean you crazy old man?_ Cardin really didn't know what to think of this guy. He showed up one day in Vale, and Cardin hadn't really interacted with him much until this mission started. Anytime he tried to talk with him, it felt like he was testing him. Like he was sitting in a lecture hall, being called on to answer a question.

"Looking at all of the torn up ground around here, it is clear that Ruby is telling the truth about a Grimm attack last night. Not that I think she would lie to us, based on what I can tell of her character." Grau pointed out towards the edge of the village. "Yet, if the Grimm were attacking last night, why did they stop when the sun came up? It's not as if they are nocturnal creatures."

Cardin slowly realized what that meant. Having been at the Battle of Beacon, he personally knew that once the Grimm had an opening, they would continue to attack until either they were all dead, or they had destroyed everything. "What does that mean then?"

Grau narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure, but tonight, we must be extra vigilant. These sightings of ghosts concern me somewhat. I do not believe they are really spirits of the dead, however-" he turned and continued to walk towards the Bullhead in the distance "-they are a clear sign that things are not all that they seem here."

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I may take some liberties with the characterization of CRDL. It's easy to assume that they are simply all the same-a bunch of antagonistic bullies-but I think that would be unrealistic. Here's a synopsis of my thoughts for the team widely hated by the RWBY fans! (Still not as much as they hate Cinder or Adam though)**

 **Cardin Winchester is the leader of the group. He does tend to push people around, to try and demonstrate his own strength and the strength of his team. After the incident with Jaune, he has lightened up on this a bit, but he really hasn't changed much other than that. He is racist and has a tendency to hold grudges for minor transgressions. However, he is not entirely without heart, and does take his job seriously. I will try to focus on the positive parts of his character, without entirely forgoing the negative.**

 **Russel Thrush is a bit of a hanger on, and will loudly agree with the things Cardin says. Many of his own views have become extensions of Cardin's, and he expresses them with enthusiasm.**

 **Dove Bronzewing is the most independent member of the group. He isn't exactly a saint either, as he had no problem with Cardin bullying Jaune and Velvet earlier in the school year. But he takes things very seriously, and has the most dedication to becoming a Huntsman in the group, especially after the scare they had with the Ursa Major in season 1. Is easily the most skilled fighter in the group, although Cardin beats him in pure physical strength, and Russel is faster.**

 **Sky Lark is the quietest member of the group, and probably the smartest. Also a bit of a Cardin hanger on, but not nearly to the extent which Russel is. Likes to read in his spare time, but often does it in secret to avoid being made fun of by his teammates. Unlike Russel and Dove, he does not really resent the faunus as much as Cardin, but goes along with it to stay in his teammate's good graces.**

 **I don't like this team because I like their characters. They are bullies, and don't endear themselves to the fanbase at all with any of their actions in the show so far. But I do like this team because they are a blank slate in many ways. They have room to evolve beyond just being the stereotypical bullies we know them for. It has been said by a few authors that they like to write Jaune for a similar reason. Although the fanbase likes Jaune a lot more, judging from the number of Jaune pairing stories on this site haha. See you next week! Or read you? Something like that haha.**


	7. Not the Most Open Minded of Individuals

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **So for all those enjoying my writing, but thinking to yourself "Man, I wish Thatoneguy would write humor" well, you're in luck! I released a one-shot series, Stories Scattered Through Time, earlier this week! And it's already more popular than this story, at least in terms of favorites and reviews o.o (End Shameless Self-Advertisement, Begin New Chapter)**

 **I own a computer and I watch RWBY on that computer. But alas, just because RWBY is on something I own, doesn't make it mine.**

* * *

The cheers of a crowd brought Ruby's eyes up from where she had been staring at the ground. She was standing in a ring, suspended in the air and surrounded by a series of large bleachers. Immediately, Ruby recognized where she was. It was the Amity Coliseum. Just as lively as it had been during the Vytal festival, before things went wrong. _How did I get here?_

"Salutations, friend Ruby!"

Ruby whipped around so fast she activated her semblance in the process. Sure enough, standing on the other side of the ring was a very familiar figure. "Penny!" Ruby ran over to her, arms outstretched. The same smile on her face, Penny came forward and hugged Ruby, squeezing a bit too hard, as per usual.

"It has been a long time, Ruby."

"Penny, I've missed you so much! Where have you been?"

Penny's voice lost its humor as she responded "I'm afraid I've been dead Ruby."

Ruby immediately let go and stepped back to look at Penny. Where before there was a smile on her face, now she just looked sadly accepting. Deflating at bit, Ruby said "Really?"

"You would know Ruby." Penny's inflections lost more and more of their emotions as she spoke. "You saw my body."

Ruby faltered. "I guess I was just...well I guess I wished you were still alive."

Penny lurched forward towards Ruby, her actions seeming more and more mechanical than before. "If that were true, why didn't you try to stop them from killing me?"

Guilt clouded Ruby's eyes. "Penny...I tried. I tried so hard to get to you in time. But Mercury was in the way..."

Penny's head snapped up at that. "Then why didn't you use the door you came in through to escape him?" There was no accusation, just a dullness in her voice.

Ruby backed away as Penny continued to advance towards her. _Something is wrong here._ "I was trying to get to Emerald, to try and figure out what was going on. Mercury was there though, and he was acting weird, and..." _I didn't know what to do._

Penny's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she lurched forward even faster. "You seem afraid of me, friend."

Ruby couldn't help herself and continued to back up. "Penny, you're acting rather strange. What's going on?"

"I am finnneeee..."

Screams could be heard from the audience. Ruby turned to look, but suddenly, she was yanked into an upright position. "Wha! What's going on?" She could feel a tightness at her armpits, on her leg, and across her body.

Penny stopped just short of her, leaning over with a listless stare. "We're friends, Ruby..."

Ruby felt the tightness get worse. And it only got tighter, and tighter. Suddenly, she was falling...and she could see her own arm fly past her face. Her eyes widened in horror.

Penny continued "And friends share EVERYTHING with each other."

* * *

Gasping, Ruby flew into an upright position. Since she was near the side of the bed, she fell off and onto the ground. Even before Ruby landed, she was grasping her arms and legs, making sure she was in one piece. Once she was reassured she hadn't been eviscerated, she stood up shakily.

 _It was only a nightmare...again._ Penny had been acting awfully creepy in that dream. Why did she keep having these dreams? Why did she have to remember?

Why didn't she turn around and use the other door when she saw Mercury was clearly trying to block her path?

Frustrated by the way her thoughts were spinning, Ruby threw a pillow across the room, where it made a satisfying thump against the wall. Immediately afterwards, she felt guilty. _I'm a guest here, I shouldn't be throwing things around._

If Weiss were here, Ruby was sure she would have received an earful from her. _But she isn't._ Neither was Yang, or Blake. Team RWBY was scattered to the winds. Ruby had always thought they'd be together forever, always fighting evil side by side and maybe even helping to raise each other's families. But how could they be a team if they were scattered all over the world? _Some leader I am, I can't even keep my teammates together..._

And now, Ruby had to rely on Team CRDL for allies. And she sure wasn't going to confide in them about her nightmares, and insecurities. _Why couldn't they have sent almost anyone else?_

Snatching up Crescent Rose, Ruby strode out of the guest room, noting that Jakob was awake and lying on the couch. When he heard her, he sat up immediately. As Ruby began to walk towards the door, Jakob stood up, looking like he was going to say something. Ruby turned to look at him. After a few seconds of indecision, Jakob simply nodded and said "Good Luck."

Ruby's face took on a serious look. The kind of look she gave when she knew that lives were at stake, and her actions were what it would take to keep them safe. "Thanks."

Walking outside, Ruby could see that team CRDL was up and about, stretching out their muscles in preparation for the night to come. Ruby frowned a bit at that. Now that she thought about it, if there were too many people wandering around on guard, wouldn't the culprit be less likely to appear?

Grau, walking into view from inside the sheriff's station, seemed to have similar thoughts. "We'll need to spread out, and try and cover entire village. Try not to be obvious, the last thing we need is our target being scared into hiding for the night. I will keep a watch on the woods. Shout if you need support." Nodding, team CRDL and Ruby began heading out to find a place to stake out the village. As Ruby headed towards the roof of the Punainen household, Cardin crossed her path.

Looking down at her with a half-hearted sneer, Cardin walked away "Try not to get in our way, brat."

Growling under her breath, Ruby scaled the house with ease. _Why does he always need to act like this? People's lives are at stake here!_

* * *

It had been a quiet night so far. No one had shown themselves at all so far. Cardin even began to wonder if they had indeed scared them off. _OF course, as soon as team CRDL shows themselves, the enemy suddenly isn't so cocky._ He grinned momentarily, but then frowned, reigning himself in. _Although even if that was true, we can't stay here forever._ They knew nothing of this threat, and to underestimate them could only end poorly.

It was easy for most people at Beacon to assume Cardin was stupid. His scores in the more intellectual classes, plus his brash behavior definitely had given them that impression. But that would be inaccurate. Cardin was lazy when it came to schoolwork, leading to poor scores. He was often overconfident, which led him to making incredibly daring moves in sparring, as well as causing him to piss off some of the upperclassmen with his out of the classroom behavior. Both of these often backfired on him.

But stupid? Cardin was made team leader for a reason. It would be a stretch to call him a genius by any means. However, Cardin was more than capable of reasoning past his own ego. In the past, he simply let his pride dictate his actions, ignoring his own reasoning.

That changed when Beacon fell.

"Hunters!" Cardin perked up. Grau was calling out from the edge of the village. "Defend the village!"

Cardin shook his head to clear his thoughts. There was no time for this now. He would have to work with his team, alongside Grau and even Ruby. No matter how much he may have resented her.

* * *

Ruby arrived first, in a flash of petals. Behind her, the rest of CRDL approached.

Grau pointed across the field, at the surge of darkness approaching the village perimeter. "It would seem that the Grimm have decided to attack once again."

Ruby extended Crescent Rose, holding it in front of her in a ready position. CRDL arrived, and they too drew their weapons in preparation.

Grau turned to Cardin. "What is the plan?"

Cardin's eyes widened a bit. "Me?"

"You are the leader of your team. I'm just here to support you, and Ruby is a volunteer. Tell us what to do."

Cardin seemed to swallow at that, but shook it off and began ordering his team around. "Dove, you're with me. We'll stay at the front lines. Sky and Russel, you stay behind and wait to switch in with either of us should we get exhausted." Hesitating, he turned to Ruby. "You can support us from long range."

Grau nodded in approval. "I will be part of the reserves team as well."

Transforming Crescent Rose back into its rifle form, Ruby nodded reluctantly. _I guess that sounds like a good plan._ She jumped onto the roof of a nearby building and crouched, taking aim through her scope.

A large group of Beowolves were approaching the village. Once again, there were Ursa, but they were not fast enough to slip through the gap in the village defenses. The surge of darkness wasn't quite as large as it was last night however. _This should be much easier now._

Still it wouldn't do to drop her guard. There was still that Roman lookalike running around. The first wave of Beowolves began to approach. Ruby decided to save her ammo for now, and watch how Cardin and Dove handled them.

Dove extended his sword, and fired a few shots from it, taking down a few of the beasts before they reached them. The rest approached in a tight group, which turned out to be a mistake. Cardin unleashed an explosive overhand swing, which tore the clustered Grimm to pieces in a single strike. Dove approached and struck, taking down a group of Beowolves with a series of sword swings.

Ruby shot, taking down a Beowolf attempting to flank Cardin. _Last night, the biggest problem I had was that no one was covering my back. If I can keep the Grimm from attacking them from behind, they should have no problems._

Indeed, things seemed to be progressing much better than last night. The Grimm continued to approach, but Dove and Cardin easily engaged and destroyed them. Every so now and then, Ruby would fire and take out the ones which weaved around the pack to take them by surprise.

Cardin blasted away another group, and Dove stepped back, motioning to Russel. Russel nodded, and surged forward, slicing open the throat of a Beowolf with his daggers. Cardin bashed in another one's head with a sideways swing.

Ruby began to relax. It was hard to imagine the village would be in any danger now. Now that they had six trained combatants on defense, what could possibly go wrong?

Suddenly, there was a screeching noise from the edge of the village. Ruby started, and immediately brought her scope up to scan the outer regions of the village. More Grimm than ever were beginning to approach. She could see that one of the other turrets had been sliced in half. _This isn't good!_

* * *

 _Damnit! This isn't good!_ Cardin eliminated the last of the Beowolves attempting to jump at him, and turned to see a bigger pack heading his way. _Did one of the other turrets fall?_ He was definitely in full agreement with Grau-the villagers were idiots for having their defenses so far from the village.

Speaking of Grau, the man had stepped up next to himself and Russel. "We should defend the village as a group of three now. There is no room for error."

Cardin nodded easily enough. _Anything that can make my life easier, no problem._ Grau stepped forward, and drew out a gun a few inches longer than his arm. There was what appeared to be a bayonet near the barrel. A tripod extended from the gun, allowing Grau to steady the gun, firing a rain of bullets at the approaching Grimm. _A machine gun!_

Even with the covering fire, there were still far more Grimm to deal with than before. Cardin slammed his mace into the ground, sending a wave of fire dust to clear out a couple of them. Some Ursa had managed to make it through the larger gap. One of them clawed at his face, roaring. Grimacing, Cardin stepped back. He had never liked dealing with Ursa, after he nearly met his end to one in Forever Fall. However...Cardin stepped in and crushed its head quickly. He had of course learned to deal with them as much as he could after that incident. Another one lunged at him from the side, but it was felled by a shot from Ruby.

 _I have to admit, she's a good shot._ Russel flew past him, kicking a Beowolf in the side of the head and following up with a thrust into its jaw. Another one flew past him, forcing him to back off.

"Russel, fall back and let Sky cover us!" Russel nodded and fell back, and Sky came forward, thrusting his spear into the gut of an Ursa. Russel's equipment was far better suited to fighting other humans rather than Grimm. They might have to figure out how to fix that later.

Cardin kicked out, knocking away a Beowolf away, and allowing him to focus on the Ursa, which reared up to strike with both of its claws. Twisting out of the way, Cardin brought his mace in a circle, striking it in the chest as it came down. A salvo of shots mowed down a small group of Beowolves as they attempted to surround him. Grau was taking down Grimm after Grimm with ease, and even the ones which approached him in close quarters fell to his bayonet. _He's pretty good it would seem._ Though Cardin couldn't help but compare him to the likes of Glynda and Ironwood. Those two made Grau look like a chump by comparison. _He's no pushover though, that's for sure._

Grimacing, Cardin noticed that they were being pushed back. Grau had picked up his gun and was retreating while laying down fire. Shots from Ruby helped to push back the tide, but they were being forced to give ground to the unrelenting horde. Russel jumped back into the fray, and now all four members of CRDL were in action. Their combined efforts were able to push back the Grimm, leading to a standstill.

Suddenly, a volley of shots from the village impacted into an Ursa. Turning, Cardin saw that several men from the village had exited their homes and were firing at the incoming Grimm.

Grau also noticed this, and exclaimed "No! Get back!"

Most of the Grimm continued to attack the hunters-in-training. But a few looped around, and were targeting the villagers! Without aura powering their shots, the bullets only felled a few of the monsters, not enough to keep the villagers safe. .

Grau hit a switch on his gun, and the tripod folded up, moving up until it stuck out the end of the butt as a single handle. The bayonet shifted to the front, and a few gears moved around in the body to form around the shaft made up of the tripod. The result was that the machine gun turned into a heavy spear. Pointing it towards the village, Grau pressed a switch, and the head of the spear fired out, attached to a cable. It sunk into one of the Beowolves, and the cable retracted, pulling him with it. A flash of rose petals showed that Ruby was launching into action as well.

For their part, the villagers seem to have realized their mistake, and panicked. Several of them immediately ran back inside. However, a few ran without any real direction, and ended up running away from the Grimm...but in the direction of the defensive line where CRDL was holding off the rest!

Cursing, Cardin barked an order to his teammates "Hold off these fuckers!" He ran towards one pair of villagers, a male and female, and scooped them both up. "You're running the wrong way you dumbasses!"

The others seemed to realize their mistake, and stopped abruptly. The Grimm behind them had been eliminated by Ruby and Grau, leaving the path back into the village clear. Shuddering, they all turned and ran to their homes.

Cardin dropped the two he was carrying on the ground, and they both stood up quickly. "Thanks." The male one said, shame evident in his voice.

Cardin pushed them towards the homes. "Just get inside!" They both nodded and ran back into the village. Turning around, Cardin began to head back towards the Grimm.

A sickening noise from behind him stopped him in his tracks. Turning, Cardin's heart leapt into his throat. The male villager's eyes were wide in horror, his mouth forming a noiseless scream. Nothing came out of his mouth however.

This was because his head was separated from his body, a stream of blood being the only thing connecting them.

Beside him, a shadowy figure held out the sword which had made the strike. The figure solidified slowly, advancing on the female villager with the sword held high. Roaring with rage, Cardin struck at the figure, forcing it to block with...a shield? It fell back a few meters. Glaring, Cardin held his mace out in an aggressive stance. "You bastard! I'll kill you!" _It's my fault! I let my guard down, and he paid for it!_

Screaming in horror, the other villager ran inside a nearby house. At that point, the figure solidified fully, revealing a very familiar figure. Cardin felt a wave of absolute shock coursing through him, even as he heard Ruby gasp.

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?"

* * *

 **Imma let this chapter speak for itself.**

 **Man, getting a wisdom tooth out sucks. At least I won't have to do it again, as that was the last one.**

 **This chapter almost didn't make it on time for Sunday. But I don't like to rush things too much, like I've said before.**

 **I almost wonder if I should change the characters which are shown to be the ones the story is about. Right now, it shows Ruby, Roman, Penny, and Pyrrha. The reason being is that even if those three are dead, they play a significant role in this story.**

 **Yet the story has been told through the perspective of Ruby, Jakob (OC), and Cardin. Hmmm...what do you all think?**

 **Let me know via review/PM! And I'll have the next update out next week!**


	8. Achilles Hunts Once More

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **I shall start by apologizing that this chapter was so late. For some reason, this was the hardest chapter for me to write. I really don't know why, but it was kicking my ass. I shall strive to keep to my self-appointed schedule better in the future.**

 **It was pointed out to me in a review that dust bullets would not be harmless in the hands of a non-aura user. My logic was simply that Hunters could augment their weapons with aura, and that allowed them to put out much more firepower than it would normally. While I still think this is true to some extent, I realized I may have overestimated it in the last chapter. After all, the Atlesian knights don't have aura, but they can still take down Grimm. So I made some minor tweaks to the last chapter to reflect this, but the plot remains pretty much the same, so you don't really have to go back and re-read it.**

 **Fun fact: How many of the common people in RWBY do you think actually know about Pyrrha's death? Not many, the CCT went down before that happened.**

 **For disclaimer, see previous chapter**

* * *

Jakob immediately stumbled away from the window and to a nearby wastebasket, retching loudly. _Mr. Saverne..._ The image of his decapitation played out over and over again in his head.

Struggling back to his feet, Jakob wiped his mouth with a tissue, grimacing at the taste. _I have to keep watching._ Walking back over to the window, he was just in time to see Cardin poised, ready to strike at the figure. All of the other villagers had made it back inside their homes.

As for the murderer...Jakob recoiled in shock. He recognized that face. Who wouldn't? _Pyrrha Nikos?! But why would she be killing people here?_ Although now that he thought about it, wouldn't that mean there were multiple people behind the murders here? Last night, it had been Roman Torchwick. And it would seem odd that a wanted criminal and a tournament champion would be working together to kill off a small village on Patch.

 _And it doesn't explain all of the ghosts that have been appearing either._ Jakob shook his head. No, something else was going on here. _Maybe there's someone behind all this who's can disguise themselves really well...even in my head that sounds stupid._

But what other explanation was there? They would have to find out soon.

Hopefully, before their village was overrun.

* * *

Cardin could only stare incredulously. _How is this even possible?_ Yet, before him stood Pyrrha Nikos, clad in her combat armor and her signature circlet on her head.

She waved cheerfully "Hello again!"

For a moment, Cardin was thrown off by her demeanor. At the last second, he managed to back off, avoiding a strike to the head. _Something's really off here. Nikos wouldn't have killed a civilian..._ Yet behind him was the evidence. And wasn't Pyrrha dead? What the hell was happening here?

 _Wait...Ruby said she saw Torchwick last night. And he's supposedly dead too..._

Pyrrha interrupted his thoughts, surging forward with her shield to bash into him. Stumbling back, Cardin growled, bracing himself and swinging horizontally at her. Ducking, Pyrrha entered his guard and struck upwards with her sword into his jaw, and while he was stunned, shifted it into javelin mode and used the shifting momentum to jab him in the abdomen.

Backpedaling to gain a bit of distance, Cardin swung again, this time forcing her to flip back to avoid it. _I'd forgotten how much of a pain it is to fight her...That weapon of hers can keep changing form to keep me off balance._

In the background, the Grimm were still being cut down by his teammates and Grau. Ruby was also fighting, but every time she had a moment's respite, she glanced over at Pyrrha in disbelief.

Grau put an end to that, sharply reprimanding her "Pay attention to the enemies in front of you!" Ruby nodded hesitantly, and moved to slice an Ursa in half.

Pyrrha moved forward, javelin held in both hands. Cardin was forced to block and parry a series of jabs, and was forced back step by step. Holding his mace in a wide two-handed grip, he thrust it forward to try and clothesline her with the shaft. Blocking with the javelin, Pyrrha was nonetheless forced to stop her onslaught for a moment, thus giving Cardin enough room to launch an overhead strike at her.

Rolling out of the way, Pyrrha shifted her weapon into its rifle mode, and took aim. Cardin prepared to block the incoming bullets that would inevitably be aimed straight at him...

Except there were none. Pyrrha stood back up, shifting her weapon into sword mode. "I'm sorry!"

 _What the hell?_ Cardin almost didn't see the next strike until the last moment, raising his weapon to block. Pyrrha immediately swept him off his feet with a low kick once her weapon connected with his. _A feint!_ As Cardin fell, he could see Pyrrha moving to strike him as he hit the ground. Barely managing to roll out of the way, he received only a glancing blow.

 _I can't let her keep controlling this fight!_ Cardin tried a feint of his own, going for an overhead strike, only to throw a straight kick instead. The move didn't connect, but it forced Pyrrha to give a little bit of ground as she dodged backwards.

She quickly recovered however, lunging back into Cardin's range and hitting him with a series of strikes right as his foot was planted. Cardin tried his best to defend, but every time he blocked Pyrrha would strike at another opening almost immediately.

Her weapon shifted almost constantly between forms, making it difficult to judge the range of her strikes. She swung with her sword, and as Cardin backed up to avoid it she shifted to the javelin mode, scoring a hit on his abdomen. It also pushed him further off balance, knocking him to the ground. As he attempted to rise, Pyrrha's shield whistled through the air and connected with his head, stunning him long enough to allow Pyrrha to close the distance again, catching her shield in mid-air. _I can't win this!_

A barrage of bullets flew at Pyrrha, forcing her to block them with her shield. Cardin tried to swing at her, but was kicked away before he could get any momentum. Pyrrha raised her shield just in time to block an attack from Dove. Pushing him back, she back flipped to avoid a follow-up strike from Sky and Russel.

Dove turned to face Cardin. "We've got your back!"

Cardin grimaced, but in truth he knew he would need their help to win. Pyrrha was just too much for any of them in a one-on-one, and their only chance would lie in fighting her as a team. _As much as it hurts my pride...well, it isn't like my pride has helped me much in the past._ "Yeah, let's do this!" _As team leader, my pride comes second to fulfilling the mission as a team._

Russel sneered at Pyrrha. "This time, things won't be as easy."

Cardin couldn't help but grin a bit at that. In some twisted way, this was CRDL's chance to redeem themselves after their last spar with Pyrrha. _Although the stakes are much higher this time..._

Pyrrha stood in a ready stance, as team CRDL rushed forward, ready for a rematch. Cardin roared as he swung at her. _This time, we have to win! Or the whole village is doomed!_

* * *

Ruby suddenly found herself holding off twice as many Grimm than she was before. Without the rest of CRDL backing them up, things were getting quite dicey. An Ursa lunged at her from the side, only to be mowed down by Grau's machine gun. It had been his call to let CRDL team up to take on Pyrrha, as the Grimm had thinned out to the point where the two of them would be enough.

 _At least, I hope so!_ Four Beowolves approached from the front. One Ursa joined them from the side.

"Don't let yourself get surrounded!" Grau impaled the Ursa with his spear, and shot the blade at another approaching Grimm. The Beowolves turned to attack him, leaving themselves wide open.

One flash of red later, they all collapsed.

It was a good thing Grau was around, otherwise Ruby may not have been able to concentrate at all. Even now, her thoughts drifted to the figure which was engaging team CRDL. _It's the same thing as before...except now it's Pyrrha who's come back!_

And whomever it was that had taken Pyrrha's form had killed one of the civilians which Pyrrha had sworn to protect in life. As Ruby attacked the Grimm, she could feel her rage rising. As she took out her anger on the beasts of darkness before her, one thought burned through the rest of her consciousness. _Whomever this is, they won't get away with this! I promise!_

* * *

Having his teammates there certainly made things a bit easier for Cardin.

 _Although it doesn't feel that much easier!_ Cardin grunted as he was knocked back yet again by Pyrrha's shield. Just like that one time in training, it was four on one yet Pyrrha still held the advantage.

 _It's not really her this time though...but whomever this is they're just as good!_ Russel's attempt to attack from behind met with failure, as well as a well-placed heel to the solar plexus. Sky and Dove tag teamed her, and were even able to pressure her enough to allow Cardin to get a swing in. Pyrrha was still able to block and trip him up, causing him to stumble into his teammates.

They all hit the floor, rolling in different directions to avoid the follow-up. As Cardin reached his feet, the edge of her shield bashed into his temple. Even though his aura absorbed the blow, he still felt more than a little bit rattled by the hit. Dove attacked Pyrrha and forced her to back off momentarily, giving Cardin room to recover. Pyrrha engaged Dove, her sword shifting mid strike into its javelin form, scoring a hit as Dove misjudged the range of her strike. Cardin shook his head to clear it, and growled with frustration.

"This isn't working!" Sky shouted. "Whomever this is, they fight the same way Pyrrha does! We need a different strategy!"'

Dove was kicked back and landed on his feet, skidding a bit. "Well do you have any ideas?"

Cardin kept a wary eye on Pyrrha while he thought. _What kind of strategy will work on her? When we last fought her, she kicked our asses without even taking a hit!_

 _Last time...wait!_

"Sky, attack her from behind! I'll get the front!"

Sky nodded hesitantly, and moved into position. Pyrrha seemed content to wait for them to come to her for now. She even gave them a small smile and spoke to Sky. "You know, I really will break his legs."

Sky paled, but then grew angry. "Stop spouting nonsense!" He lunged forward and struck, his spear extended to strike.

Cardin stood ready, and motioned to Dove and Russel. "When you see the opening, attack!"

Sky swung, a lower strike designed to sweep Pyrrha off her feet. Pyrrha jumped, and braced herself on Sky's weapon with her shield. _Good._ Cardin rushed her, and she managed to dodge and sweep Sky of his feet. Cardin attempted to punch her, only for her to roll away. She vaulted over his shoulder, and Cardin grinned, turning to face her...

And ducking right underneath the shield that was thrown at him.

Pyrrha landed, and as Cardin rushed her, she struck out with her sword. He braced himself, and swung even as he took a hit, impacting across Pyrrha's side. Stumbling, she fell back, only to take another solid blow from the shaft of Sky's weapon. Pyrrha was able to turn and block Russel's strike in time. But it left her wide open for an attack from Dove.

His sword struck, and met no resistance. Pyrrha's surprise was evident, even as her head was removed from her body, and hit the ground with a resounding thud.

Dove seemed to recoil at that. "What?! Why didn't they have aura? I...I didn't mean to..."

"Relax." Cardin glared at 'Pyrrha'. "That's not really Nikos. Besides, whomever it is-" He glanced back at the body of the villager from earlier. "-they more than deserved that."

Dove still seemed a bit shaken, but his expression showed less remorse than before. "I guess that's true."

Cardin nodded. _It's a good thing we've fought Pyrrha before._ The only reason they were able to hit her at all is because Cardin knew what she was going to do next. And it seemed that whomever this guy was, however they were replicating her, they didn't have aura. _How strange..._

Russel collapsed. "Man that was fucking hard!"

"We're not done yet." Cardin motioned to where Ruby and Grau were holding off the remainder of the Grim assaulting the village. "We still have to help clean up the rest of this mess."

At least it seemed that the two of them were able to destroy most of the Grimm remaining. Cardin couldn't help but frown. _As much as I hate to admit it, it really does seem like that kid is the prodigy everyone says she is._ This was no time for such thoughts, however. "Let's go!"

Sky however, was pointing back behind them. "Wait! What...what the hell is going on?"

Turning quickly, Cardin gasped. It had been hard to see in the dark, but now that he was paying closer attention, it wasn't blood which was flowing out of the detached head and body of 'Pyrrha'. Instead, there were shifting shadows, which were now connecting the two together. As the head reattached to the body, both of them shifted into shadows once more. A new face began to take form...

* * *

Ruby panted as she kneeled there, taking aim at another Grimm. She fired, taking its life, and chambered another round. _At least we seem to be reaching the end of this group._

Grau brained one Beowolf with his spear, and turned, shooting it behind his back at another. Using the cable embedded in the body, he swung and knocked a whole group of Grimm to the ground. The spear head returned, as Grau transformed it back into a machine gun, mowing down all the Grimm struggling to get back to their feet.

Ruby felt exhausted, but Grau seemed to still be in good shape. Although even he was being worn down, and they had no time to rest. There were still a sizable number of Beowolves left, and they couldn't allow a single one to get through.

At least it seemed like CRDL had taken care of whomever was behind all of this.

Or so Ruby thought. Suddenly, the sounds of combat flared anew behind them. Grau glanced back, and his eyes widened. "Is it possible...?"

Ruby saw a Beowolf lunge at him while he was distracted, and shot it out of the air. "Look out!"

Grau nodded in appreciation. "Thank you." He turned to face the rest of the pack. "Go help them! I can handle the rest of these."

Ruby nodded, and shifted Crescent Rose into its scythe form. Turning, she took in the new situation, and gasped.

Cardin was on his knees, struggling to rise. His teammates were engaging a shadowy figure, which seemed to knock them all away with its bare hands. Sky tried to attack it from behind, spear extended to impale it. It flicked its hand, and Sky reeled back as if struck by something. Dove and Russel were knocked away, and Cardin, still struggling, tried to strike it with his mace.

His attack was caught, and with another flick, Cardin was hit by some sort of floating shadow, breaking through his aura. As he lay on the ground, stunned, the figure took full form.

Ruby gasped, momentarily caught off guard. "Penny!"

'Penny' turned and looked at Ruby, smiling. "Salutations!"

And she brought her foot down on Cardin's shin, resulting in a sickening cracking noise. Cardin yelled in agony. Sky groaned, falling unconscious from pain. Russel's face tightened in rage. Ruby stared in horror. Dove's face filled with fear for his leader.

Penny gave a small bow to them all, and her expression as she looked back up was as sunny as can be.

"This is going to be so much fun!"

* * *

 **That awkward moment where I end the chapter on the same cliffhanger as the last one. Just with a 'different' character. Heh.**

 **So I will likely start releasing these chapters every other week rather than every week from now on. The next update will not be this weekend, but the next. Assuming I can stick to my own schedule this time.**

 **However, in the meantime, I do have a new project. I'll see if I can get the first chapter out soon. "Dead Men's Tales" will remain my priority for now, but my goal would be to release a chapter every other week on a rotating schedule with "Dead Men's Tales". A chapter for what now?**

 **For a new fic idea of mine, tentatively named "Autumn Arc". Look forward to it!**

 **And don't worry about it delaying this story. The tone of "Autumn Arc" will be lighter than that of "Dead Men's Tales". So I can write for it during times when I'm not in the mood to write this darker story.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Fave, Follow, and Review if you liked it!**


	9. Not a Real Girl

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Wow, there was a lot of positive feedback the last chapter! I'm glad, it really seemed like the story had hit a dry spell for a little bit. I also had a few interesting PM conversations with people who reviewed the story! I'm always down to chat about my stories, or RWBY itself.**

 **YBWR si denwo yb hteeT retsooR.**

* * *

Warily, Ruby circled around 'Penny', ready to speed into action if they continued to attack Cardin. Penny seemed content to stand there for now, sizing the three of them up. Ruby gritted her teeth in frustration. _I can't let another classmate die on my watch!_

Dove took aim with his gun-sword, and slowly started to advance. Russel followed his lead, and approached from the other side. Heart racing in anticipation, Ruby began to do the same. The three of them began to close in on Penny, all sides waiting and ready for the first move.

Although no one could have guessed who would make that first move. Cardin suddenly swung his mace up at Penny, who blocked it with her arms. A pained smile on his face, Cardin pulled the trigger.

And an explosion sent Penny flying.

Russel immediately raced to Cardin's side. "Dude! You just made your leg injury so much worse!"

Wincing in agony, Cardin shook his head and gritted out "Forget about that! Go help them take her down!"

Ruby and Dove had chased after Penny, looking to take advantage of the moment when she landed to land a decisive blow. However, in mid-air, she completely changed direction, a glint of wires being the only hint as to how. Ruby found herself skidding to a halt, while Dove had managed to get better footing and was able to veer after her. As he got close, a trio of swords spiraled around him, and he was hard pressed to block them all.

Ruby sped by him to try and engage Penny in closer quarters. As she approached, Penny turned and exclaimed "Ruby!" sounding for all the world like she had never been happier to see her.

Faltering, Ruby swung awkwardly, and Penny easily jumped over the attack, landing on the dull side of the scythe and kicking her across the jaw. Russel charged in and used his signature somersault kick to send Penny flying back even as she successfully blocked it. A volley of bullets from Dove's sword were all easily deflected by Penny, who counterattacked with the three blades from before, jabbing them into the earth where Dove had previously been standing.

Another shot rang out, as Ruby closed the distance and nearly took Penny's head off with Crescent Rose. As she back flipped away, Penny landed and grinned, sweeping her arm in a wide motion. Four swords spun through the air and connected with Ruby, causing her to skid backwards as her aura took the blow. Ruby circled around Penny, wary of any sudden movements. _Won't be able to take too many more hits...this night has really been wearing us down!_

Dove broke free from the swords fending him off at last, and engaged Penny, swinging his sword in dangerous arcs and forcing her to back away. Russel joined in from the other side, and together they were able to drive her outside the village boundaries. There, an exhausted Grau was managing to hold off the remainder of the Grimm, mostly with his machine gun at this point.

As Penny jumped back to avoid a pair of strikes from Russel, Ruby closed the distance in a flash of red, and positioned her scythe around Penny's body right before she landed. With a pull of the trigger, Penny's upper body was separated from its bottom half.

For the first time, Penny's reaction to this seemed pained, letting out an uncharacteristic grunt as she was cut in two. As she hit the ground, her eyes took on a dead look.

Ruby stared in horror. _It's the same._ She ran up to the body. _The same as before._ Without even thinking, Ruby crouched down next to Penny's torso and cried out "Penny! Are you all ri..." before stopping mid-sentence. _Wait! This isn't-_

An arm shot up, the hand closing around Ruby's throat. Ruby clutched at the hand, desperately trying to remove it. Her aura was preventing Penny from crushing her windpipe and/or choking her, but it was a constant drain on her reserves.

Penny looked at her with sad eyes. "I'm...not a real girl..."

Memories flashed through Ruby's mind all at once. The first time she met Penny. Penny confiding in her. Penny saying she wanted to stay at Beacon. Penny's lifeless body lying on the arena floor. _Penny...how can I fight you?_

Yet, despite all of this, other memories rose above them. Jakob crying as he recounted the death of his neighbor. Mr. Berde valiantly defending the village with his life. The villagers attempting to help them out, even if the attempt had failed. _I must defend the village...no matter what!_

Her determination having returned, Ruby shifted Crescent Rose into rifle form and shot Penny point-blank in the center of her torso, blowing her apart. The entirety of Penny's torso disintegrated into shadows, and traveled to her legs, reforming back into one piece.

Ruby struggled to her feet, feeling incredibly drained. Dove and Russel took ready stances, but both of them seemed to be at their limits as well. Penny strode forward, swords twirling around in menacing arcs.

Russel glared at Penny. "Damnit, whoever this is, they just don't quit!"

Both Ruby and Dove opted to save their breath, but Ruby knew she was thinking along similar lines. _How can we put this thing down for good?_

As Penny swept one arm out to manipulate her blades, a spear jutted out from her stomach. Not even fazed by this development, she fired them as a counterattack at Grau. Dodging to the side, Grau ran in a circle around Penny, ducking and rolling as Penny's swords danced through the night air. As he began wrapping Penny up, she spun around, escaping with ease.

Dislodging the blade with a flick of his weapon, Grau frowned as it reeled back into place. "Perhaps that would have been too obvious." Compared to the other three, he seemed to have more left in the tank, so to speak. Lunging forward, Grau struck with a series of controlled jabs. Penny dodged most of them, but occasionally there would be a small burst of black smoke as one of them connected.

Batting away a sword with the shaft of his weapon, Grau swung the heavy blade and smashed it across Penny's head, sending her tumbling to the ground. Russel took advantage of this to score a three-hit combo on Penny as she rose. All three wounds sealed up instantly.

"Fuck!" Russel swung his daggers in a frenzy, trying desperately to inflict damage. He was struck by five swords spiraling in a tight circle, and then kicked back. Rising from the ground, Russel yelled in absolute rage, and charged forward again, only to be knocked aside by Grau's shoulder.

"Calm down! You won't be able to beat that thing if you get yourself killed!"

Russel stood up and yelled right back "Beat her?! Nothing we've done has even been able to scratch her!"

"That's where you're wrong." Grau calmly pointed at Penny. "Look closer." Ruby turned to look as well, and after a moment, was able to see what Grau was talking about.

There appeared to be a black crack all around Penny's torso. It was faint, but from time to time black smoke would pulse out of it, as if trying to heal the wound. After a moment, Ruby was able to remember how that had happened. _When I cut her in half, it didn't heal completely!_

Dove narrowed his eyes, also seeming to piece it together, "Right!" As Grau distracted Penny from the front, Dove swung, shearing through Penny's arm.

Emotionlessly, Penny flipped back from Grau, her swords forcing them back. Her detached arm faded into shadows, and reformed fully on Penny's body once again. There was no sign that the arm had never been removed.

Dove looked taken aback, but quickly recovered. "That's right, she survived having her head cut off...she doesn't have a problem with being cut into pieces."

As Penny approached, Russel moved forward to strike. Ruby moved as well, firing her gun behind her. Penny crossed a trio of swords to block Ruby's attack, and two more curved out to intercept Russel. Reeling back from the blow, Russel snarled, but seemed to have calmed down from earlier, and moved in cautiously, and struck again, severing one of the wires connecting the swords to Penny.

One of the swords dropped to the ground, but faded into shadows and reformed, just like the wounds had.

Grau nodded. "It seems the 'weapons' are also a part of whatever transformation is in play here. Stands to reason."

Ruby circled cautiously around Penny, not taking her eyes off her for a moment. "But why wasn't she able to heal completely from when she was cut in half?"

Penny tilted her head at her. "Ruby, are these people your friends?"

"And why the hell does nothing she say make sense?!" Russel growled.

Dove swung experimentally at Penny's head, and a pair of swords moved to block it. As Penny moved to attack, a spear blade imbedded itself in her stomach, and she leapt backwards.

"Let it make the first move for now." Grau advised, retracting his weapon. "We can't afford to waste any energy here, especially when we don't know how to hurt this thing."

Even as he said that, Penny made a new noise, hissing as she landed. All heads turned to see her clutching the stab wound, smoke pouring around it. And they were able to see that the wound was right on top of the crack from earlier.

"Well, maybe we just found our answer." Dove grinned in anticipation. All four of them stalked forward trying to appear like they weren't on the verge of collapse.

Speaking up one final time, Penny made a little bow. "Thank you for a wonderful time."

And she dispersed into shadows, disappearing entirely.

Tensing, Ruby glanced around, ready for a surprise attack. Nothing came, and the looming presence she had felt earlier was now gone. Falling to the ground, Ruby attempted to catch her breath. Russel and Dove did the same, even as Sky could be heard groaning as he regained consciousness. For now, it seemed they had driven them off, with an extra hour or so to spare before dawn. _But how are things going to go tomorrow...?_

* * *

Cautiously, Jakob poked his head out of the front door. From the looks of things, they were safe for now. Jogging over to where Ruby was lying down, breathing heavily, he called out "Ruby! Are you okay?"

A thumbs up was the answer he got, Ruby being preoccupied with her recovery. Meanwhile, the boys _Team CRNL or something like that, I think?_ were in a similar state, but seemed to be mostly concerned with the condition of their leader.

Grau was still standing, and was trying to direct the villagers who were outside to aid the doctor in safely transferring Cardin to the village clinic. Cardin himself seemed content to groan in pain every so now and then, although his expression indicated that his injury was likely far more painful than he was making it sound. At one point, when they loaded him on the stretcher, Cardin swore loudly, but that was it.

Jakob couldn't help but wince when he saw them carry him into the building. Cardin's leg was bent at an odd angle, it was definitely impossible for the bone to be anything but broken. Jakob had broken his arm once a few years ago, and that hadn't looked nearly as bad as this. _How can he just sit there and groan? I'd be screaming my head off! He's pretty tough._

Turning back to Ruby, he saw that she was sitting up again, having recovered a bit. "Ruby."

Ruby faced him, looking a bit surprised at his serious tone. "Yes Jakob?"

"I'm tired of just sitting around while you guys try to save our village." Jakob's eyes lit up in determination. "What I mean to say it, is there any way I can help? I know I can't fight, but there must be something I can do."

Ruby looked a bit concerned, but there was also a strange inflection in her eyes, like she was looking at something familiar. "Are you sure?"

Nodding, Jakob held her gaze. "I am."

A sad smile adorning her face, Ruby stood up, dusting off her outfit. "Well, why don't you come along? We're going to be meeting up to discuss our next move soon."

Jakob couldn't help but feel excited. He felt like he was taking his first steps down the same path Ruby had taken. The path of a hero. The path of a hunter.

However, a nagging thought surfaced in his head. _Ruby seemed happy about that, but she seemed kind of sad about it too._

This thought was quickly buried under Jakob's enthusiasm, and he followed Ruby, ready and willing to do whatever it took to help save his village.

* * *

Grau had everyone wait until Cardin was treated to start the meeting, so that Cardin could be included. Although he had raised an eyebrow at Ruby bringing Jakob along, once she had explained he wanted to find a way to help, he allowed him to stay without any more question.

As the teams filed into the clinic, the doctor nodded, and moved aside to give them room, although he remained nearby just in case he was needed. Mr. Berde was sleeping, but as they entered, he woke up almost immediately.

Grau nodded at Mr. Berde, and motioned for Russel assist him as he rose. "It's okay." Mr. Berde rose without any assistance, although a bit shakily, and he was speaking more slowly than before. "Aura really does wonders on one's recovery time." It was true, the wound on his chest had mostly healed, and the bruises on his legs were completely gone. _Thank goodness he's getting better._

"You still shouldn't push yourself too much." Grau gently reminded him, a stark contrast to how he generally dealt with Ruby and CRDL. "It will take time to fully recover."

"Time we do not have, from what I hear." Mr. Berde took a seat near Cardin's bed.

Cardin was lying down with his leg in a splint and cast, elevated and resting on a pillow. He seemed less in pain than before, but every so now and then he would wince a bit.

Russel, Dove, and Sky rushed over to his side, all babbling at once.

"Cardin, you-"

"Man, are yo-"

"I'm sorry I wasn'-"

Immediately, Cardin swore, silencing them all "For fuck's sake guys, I'm okay." Leaning back, he glared at them "And don't start saying anything like "I'm sorry" or "It's my fault", because I don't want to hear any of that shit."

"Uh, yeah, of course." Russel spoke for them all.

Cardin turned to Grau. "Sorry I wasn't able to take her down, sir."

Grau shook his head. "From what I heard, you did a magnificent job as it is. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

Cardin may have scoffed a bit at that last part, his eyes seeming quite far away. Ruby couldn't help but feel awful. One of the villagers Cardin had tried to protect had been killed right in front of him. It was very similar to what had happened to her. _Is it really impossible to protect everyone?_ She began to shake a bit, but was distracted from her thoughts by Grau's next statement.

"From what I have seen, this thing which encountered is the cause of the strange events occurring in Alaala. It seems able to transform into other people. So far, it only seems able to transform into those whom have perished." Grau paced around the aisle, deep in thought. "What observations have we made so far?"

Russel let out a frustrated sigh. "It seems like whenever we hit them, they're able to heal instantly through some black smoke trick."

Grau nodded, making a note on his scroll. "And?"

"For some reason, they weren't able to completely heal the wound from when Ruby cut them in half." Dove noted. "And striking that area seemed to hurt them as well."

"Useful information." Grau made some more notes. "Do we have any ideas as to why?"

There was silence. Ruby felt somewhat uncomfortable as everyone turned to look at her. "I don't know. They were able to heal when I hit them before, so..." she trailed off.

"Let's come back to that point, although I do feel as if that might be one of the most important things we can figure out here." Grau looked around. "What else?"

Mr. Berde frowned. "It seemed to be talking funny when I saw it. Sometimes it would say things that made sense, other times it didn't seem like the sentences matched up."

Jakob suddenly spoke up "I remember that as well." Everyone turned to him, and he blushed, but continued. "When I first saw them, it answered a question with a really odd response. It didn't quite fit."

 _That's true...something has been off with all of the conversations we've had with them...wait!_ Ruby suddenly turned to Cardin. "When you were talking with Pyrrha, did she seem like she was repeating things she had said to you before?"

Cardin face suddenly lit up in understanding. "She did...that's it!"

Grau looked like he had figured it out as well. "Are you saying that it wasn't actually speaking to us? It was just repeating things the person had said in the past?"

Ruby nodded. "Every sentence that the Torchwick, Pyrrha, and Penny shadows said was a repeat."

Jakob looked up. "Does this mean that they're pulling these...forms from our memories?"

Grau turned and regarded Jakob with a great deal more interest than before. "That's very astute of you. That very well might be the method by which it is able to replicate these people's looks, their dialogue, and their fighting styles."

Raising his hand, Russel called out "You've been saying "it". I thought this might have been someone's semblance or something."

Mr. Berde blinked. "You don't think this is actually some form of ghost, do you?"

Grau shook his head. "No, I do not believe this is the work of someone with a semblance. For one thing, they would have an active aura if they were able to utilize their semblance, according to theory at least." Turning to Mr. Berde, he continued "And I don't think it is a ghost. I doubted it from the start, although even I was beginning to think along those lines when we weren't able to harm it. But once we were able to hurt it, I knew at once what we were dealing with."

Sitting in a chair, Grau continued. "This is the work of something with unnatural powers. Yet this something also lacks an aura and lacks the ability to utilize dust, as none of the shadow clones were able to fire their weapons. Most importantly, it holds a single-minded desire to destroy this village and everyone inside it."

Ruby felt a sudden chill as she realized something. Last night, she hadn't felt it, as there were huge crowds of Grimm in the area. But tonight, the Grimm had been cleared out by Grau, yet the oppressive feeling that they had brought didn't fade until Penny had disappeared. And the black smoke from the wounds...it looked just like...

 _No way..._

Grau's face was carved from stone as he continued. "When you add all of this up, there is no doubt about it. This shadow which is terrorizing the village is none other than a creature of Grimm."

* * *

 **One mystery revealed. No, it's not actually a ghost, although I imagine most of you were thinking along the lines of it being a Grimm at this point. At least, some of the reviews and PMs I received point that way.**

 **Of course, there are still some questions. How do they kill it? Why are the Grimm only attacking at night? Where did this mysterious Grimm come from, and why is it only attacking the village now?**

 **We'll find all of that out in time.**

 **I bet most of you forgot about Mr. Berde by now, didn't you? I'm not done with him yet, he doesn't throw in the towel that easily. I should know, I made him haha.**

 **I do apologize for this being a day late. As classes start up, I will likely be somewhat inconsistent with updates. But I will still aim for close to the schedule I have set up.**

 **Next week, look out for chapter 2 of Autumn Arc! As for this story, chapter 10 will release in 2 weeks. Look forward to it! Fav, follow, and/or review if you enjoyed!**


	10. To Each Their Own

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **So much research to be done...**

 **At least, if I want to graduate next spring haha. Which I do.**

 **Why do I bring this up here? Because it fits the context of this chapter of course!**

 **I don't own RWBY, and I'm running out of clever things to say in the disclaimer.**

 **Rest in peace, Monty**

* * *

Everyone in the room seemed shocked. Dove was the first to recover and ask "A Grimm?"

Grau nodded. "There's no mistaking it. The creature unmistakably bears the qualities of one."

Cardin sat up a little too quickly, before wincing and settling back down. "How could a Grimm have those kinds of powers? I've never seen any of the ones we've fought before do anything like that."

"It's true, most Grimm are merely physically dangerous." Grau pulled out his scroll and tapped the screen a few times. "This actually led to early theories that the Grimm were merely the spirits of animals. However, there are several types of Grimm which disprove this theory." Expanding his scroll, he pulled up the image of a Creep. "While Beowolves, Ursai, and many other Grimm share likeness with certain animals, there are also many which do not." Pulling up another data file, this time with the image of a suit of armor, Grau continued. "There are also several types of Grimm which have more supernatural abilities. Some Grimm have the ability to possess inanimate objects, and there are some which have the ability to suck the aura right out of the body of a trained hunter."

While everyone else seemed unsettled by that last statement, Ruby couldn't help but remember something Weiss told her. _She faced one of those possession-type Grimm as part of her training, and it was wearing a suit of armor too. Well, not wearing exactly, but..._

Closing the file, Grau scanned through his data. "Unfortunately, we don't know everything about the Grimm. There are new types discovered on missions all the time. But we don't often get complete information on some of the more dangerous types, as the hunters which face them don't always make it back for a full debriefing."

Mr. Berde raised his hand, like he was in class. "Does that mean you don't know which one it is?"

Grau shrugged, and tapped his scroll again with a grunt of satisfaction. "Yes and no. We have a name for this creature, but it is so rare, so elusive, that we don't have complete data on the subject. " He held up his scroll for everyone to see. There was no picture, just a name and a description. "This particular creature is called an Aswang"

Ruby sounded it out. "As-wong?"

Grau nodded. "Yes, the Aswang. Not much is known about this creature, other than its ability to take on the shapes of humans. It is theorized that it is able to access the thoughts of humans, and take on the forms of memories shrouded in negative emotions such as grief, or guilt. Generally speaking, this means it can look like anyone who has died so long as it reads the mind of someone who remembers them. "

Jakob went as white as a sheet. "The ghosts people have been seeing, Mr. Levinson...they were actually a Grimm?"

Grau nodded sadly. "They live long enough to become intelligent, and use their shapeshifting form to confuse victims and lure them in."

Mr. Berde was almost as pale as Jakob. Russel stood up. "But if it can only look like people who've died, wouldn't people get suspicious?"

"It's not that easy." Everyone turned to Ruby who continued. "Have you ever lost someone you really cared about? Have you ever wished that one day, you would wake up, and it would all have just been a nightmare? This...Aswang...it must seem like a dream come true for many of these people." Her eyes watered up, and she turned away.

The room was silent for a moment, until Dove broke that silence. "Is that why it can't seem to form its own sentences? It only repeats the ones from that person's memory, right?"

Grau nodded in approval. "Grimm can get intelligent enough sometimes to understand our speech to some extent. But I have yet to hear of one which could actually talk to us, and this one is no exception."

"You seem knowledgeable on the subject of Grimm." Sky noted.

"That's right. My official position is as a Grimm Studies Specialist for the Atlas military."

Mr. Berde seemed shocked. "I thought you were an Atlas Special Operative?"

Chuckling, Grau nodded. "I am. Special Operatives are separated into several categories, mostly combat oriented but also some reconnaissance roles. I fall into the latter category, with a focus on Grimm behaviors."

Standing up, Grau paced around the room. "Not much is known about Aswang. They're very patient, and like many other ancient Grimm do not usually attack humans much. But there has been history of them appearing from time to time, and taking people from outlying villages."

Ruby seemed troubled. "How come there's one on Patch? The Grimm on this island are pretty weak for the most part. How could this one live here and remain unnoticed?"

A few taps of his scroll later, and Grau held up his scroll again, with a picture of the Grimm Dragon frozen on the CCT tower. "Likely, it was in hibernation. Much like the Grimm Dragon was, before the Battle of Beacon. And like the Dragon, it was probably awakened by the surge of negativity from that battle."

"Wait what?" Jakob exclaimed. "What battle?"

"How could you not have heard of it?" Russel snapped.

"Calm down." Grau glared at Russel. "Although it does seem odd that you haven't heard something about it."

Mr. Berde coughed uncomfortably. "The Punainen family didn't really keep up with the events of the Vital Festival. We did tell his parents what we saw before the tower went down, but I guess it looks like they didn't tell him."

Jakob looked shocked. "What happened?"

Ruby 's response was short and pained. "The Grimm attacked Vale. The CCT was destroyed, and they still haven't taken Beacon back."

* * *

 _What? Vale was attacked? Beacon was overrun? The CCT was destroyed?_

This was a lot to take in for Jakob. _And to think that just a few weeks ago I was annoyed that I wasn't able to browse the web on my scroll...but people probably died trying to defend that tower!_

A sudden realization hit Jakob. _Pyrrha Nikos...that other girl Penny._ On the day the CCT went down, Jakob remembered that they had been scheduled to fight. His parents may not have liked to watch the Vital Festival, but he liked to check out the results and highlights after the fights. Of course he never saw those results that day, because by the time he was done studying with his parents the CCT had been destroyed.

 _But that means...if that thing is able to copy them...that they're..._

Grau cleared his throat. "In any case, we lack information on the Aswang. And information is something we need. Somehow, this creature seems able to heal from almost any wound." Turning to Ruby, he continued "Yet one of your strikes was able to hurt it. So it can't be invincible, there must be some weakness."

Mr. Berde's face seemed thoughtful. Grau noticed this, and turned. "Something on your mind?"

"Not really, it's just...something sounds familiar about this thing."

Those words were enough to snap Jakob out of his daze. _Now that I think about it...it really does sounds familiar!_

The image of his parents sprung to mind. They were studying at home, like usual. At the time, they had been studying history. Part of that was studying ancient lore...

"That's it!" Everyone turned to Jakob, and he shied away from the attention. "Umm..."

"What's it?" Sky asked.

"Well...this Grimm. I just realized why it seems so familiar, both to me and Mr. Berde."

"Mr. Berde and I." Grau corrected absently.

"Right, sorry. I was studying history a few weeks ago, and part of that was history of the island. Back when people first came here, there were all sorts of stories and folktales about this place." Jakob stood up and paced around, sounding more and more excited by the moment. "And there were a bunch of those stories which revolved around a creature which could take on the form of dead people."

Mr. Berde smacked his fist into his palm. "Of course, that's it!"

Dove seemed skeptical. "But how does this help us? They're just stories."

"Don't be so quick to throw out this idea." Grau's gaze was intense as he looked at Jakob. "Every folk tale has elements of truth to them. And we have nothing else in terms of information sources."

"So there we go." Cardin sat up slowly this time. "We read a bunch of stories, and try to find this thing's weakness. Is that right?"

Grau nodded. "I would think so." He motioned to Ruby, Dove, Sky, and Russel. "Except for you four. You're all going to eat a nice meal and go to bed. We'll need you to be rested for tomorrow night."

"I'm going to fight too." Mr. Berde's tone made it clear he would not be moved on this subject. "I'm well enough that it won't be a problem."

Grau merely sighed. "Just be careful. You're not fully healed yet." He turned to Jakob. "Jakob, was it? Would you be willing to help me research this creature?"

"Yes." Jakob didn't even have to think about it. This was his chance to help out, to pull his own weight. "Of course."

Cardin raised his arm to get Grau's attention. "I'll help too." He motioned to his leg and added bitterly "Not like I can do much else."

Grau nodded in approval. "Excellent. With any luck, we'll be able to figure out a weakness, or any other important information we can use. For now, let's get some food so our fighters can get some rest."

* * *

Cardin sat there, picking at the food the doctor had brought him. It wasn't as if the food wasn't appetizing. It was actually quite good, at least, compared to hospital food. The doctor was a good cook it would seem.

No, it was just that Cardin couldn't get the events of the evening out of his head. Once again, he had lain helplessly before the enemy. Granted, this time it had been at the hands of a far more formidable Grimm than that Ursa Major. But it stung nonetheless that he had been beaten and helpless once more.

And not just beaten... _I failed to protect that villager._ Cardin knew that there wasn't anything he could have done. The villagers had placed themselves in harm's way, and they had done their best to protect them. This...Aswang...was incredibly tricky, and with what he had known at the time, Cardin knew it would have been impossible to predict it would have appeared at that moment.

 _It's easy enough to say that. I took a job to protect these people, and one of them died not even a few yards away from me._

Angrily, Cardin began digging into his food at last. _The least I can do is help figure out how to beat this thing._ Yet even this thought wasn't able to chase away the guilt.

* * *

Ruby sat at a picnic table by herself, eating a bowl of stew from the village tavern. It wasn't bad, but she preferred her father's cooking. Even if he occasionally burned things, the food he made was actually pretty good.

As Ruby ate, her mind shifted to other things. _Penny...Pyrrha..._ It hadn't been easy to see them again. Especially to see them attacking the innocent and trying to destroy the village. When it first took the form of Torchwick, Ruby had been shocked, but it was a completely different story when it looked like her friends.

The food was becoming hard to swallow, so Ruby stopped eating it. Once again, she was shaking. _Why? Why do I feel so weak right now? Why can't I just kill Grimm, and come back like nothing's wrong like I used to?_ Wrapping her arms around her knees, Ruby sat there and waited for her latest attack to pass.

"Not eating with your classmates, Ruby?" Ruby looked up to see Grau standing there. He had a strange expression on his face, and soon Ruby realized it was gentle concern. _Looks odd on him, I'm used to him looking all serious...kinda like Professor Goodwitch._

"Well, we don't usually get along very well." Ruby laughed nervously. The feeling from before hadn't faded by much, but now Ruby felt like she needed to hide it. _I need to show that I can do this._

Grau chuckled as well. "I gathered that much from how you first greeted each other. I am impressed, however, that you have all been able to put that aside to complete the job. For the most part, anyhow."

"We have to. The job is about saving the village, and that's more important than anything else."

That statement earned a nod of approval. "That mindset will carry you far as a huntress." Grau sat on the other end of the table. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Ruby shook her head. "Sure, go ahead."

Hesitating, Grau sighed. "I apologize if this brings up bad memories, but did you know those two personally? Pyrrha and Penny, I mean."

"Yeah...they were my friends." Ruby took a sudden interest in her half-eaten bowl of stew.

"I am sorry that you have to see them this way." Grau sighed.

Ruby was silent. Grau continued "It's normal to feel the way you do, you know."

"What?" Ruby was a little surprised. "The way I...how did you..?"

"The signs were there. I've had my fair share of nightmares and terror from the work I've done over the years as well." Grau's gaze was fixed on the sky. "But the attack on Vale and Beacon was one of the worst in years, perhaps even on the scale of Mountain Glen. And you experienced that very early in your career as a huntress."

"I just..." Ruby stumbled on her words, as they came out unbidden "I feel so...weak. I wasn't able to save them. The whole reason I wanted to become a huntress was to help people, yet I wasn't even able to keep my friends safe." Tears streamed down her face. "An-and they weren't the only ones who died. So many others were killed as well. I wanted to save people, but I could only watch them die!" Ruby broke down fully at this point. "H-how can I face my-my mom like this?"

Grau seemed unsure as to what to say to that, but someone else beat him to the punch.

"We all failed."

Ruby looked up, to see Russel, Dove, and Sky. Dove had been the one to speak up, but the other two seemed to be in agreement. He continued "All of us were supposed to protect the people. And we all tried as best as we could."

Russel nodded "The Atlas forces gave everyone the option to leave at the start, but no one from Beacon did."

Lastly, Sky jumped in "And from what we were told at the end, no one did more than you, Ruby. You took down that ship, right? If you hadn't done that, so many more would have died because of the Atlesian Knights and Paladins."

Ruby had stopped crying, but still felt down. "It doesn't feel like enough. Maybe it will never feel like I've done enough."

Grau smiled. "That, Ruby, is the mark of an extraordinary leader. Never settling for anything more than your very best." Turning to RDL of CRDL, he continued "Cardin too, shows promise. Even now, with his leg being broken, instead of dwelling on it, he has chosen to assist us in finding the right answer."

That last statement lit a fire inside Ruby. "In that case, I guess it's time to stop feeling sorry for myself, isn't it?" Turning to her food, she made quick work of the last few bites. "We have a job to do, and right now that means getting rested for tomorrow night."

Russel smirked. "Hell yeah." The three members of CRDL pumped their fists in the air, and Ruby, with a small smile, did the same. _I-no, we won't let this creature hurt anyone else._

* * *

Grau smiled. It seemed as if Ruby had put aside her fears for now. Perhaps it wouldn't solve the problem in the long term, but right now they didn't have any time to lose. Besides, it wasn't like he could solve this problem for her. Every hunter had to find their own way of moving on.

Speaking of which, he had work to do. Rising from the table, Grau walked towards the library, where Jakob and Cardin (on crutches, despite the doctor's protests) were waiting. As he walked over, his thoughts wandered.

Cardin was aggressive, stubborn, and prejudiced. Yet even now, he was showing signs of working on his weaknesses. Only then, would his true strength shine through. And his team would follow, as they looked up to Cardin and would emulate him.

Jakob was young, and did not fully understand the world just yet. But he showed signs of great intelligence, and a desire to help others. He would make a great huntsman, or perhaps a great researcher if he so desired.

And of course, Ruby. She had all of her beliefs shaken recently by the Battle of Beacon. Yet she still forged ahead, trying her best to stay true to herself. In terms of potential, Ruby shone above them all, and she was two years younger than the rest of CRDL.

 _It is encouraging to see that the new generation will have such potential_.

Grau opened the door to the library, before thinking to himself grimly.

 _If things continue the way they have been, then they will need every ounce of that potential to survive._

* * *

 **And so, we shall delve into the lore of Patch next week! I've always felt that a good filler arc (yes, I consider Dead Men's Tales to be a filler arc of sorts, to keep myself and the readers entertained between now and Volume 4) expands the lore of a world while staying true to the source material. Of course, chances are that even what little I conjure up will be contradicted in the show at some point :P but it's fanfiction, that's bound to happen**

 **Now you know the name of this menace that has plagued the village of Alaala for so long! And yes, I had Ruby sound out the name just so you'd all know how to pronounce it. Aswang is pronounced "As-wong"**

 **And the name keeps with traditional Grimm naming conventions (mythological creatures). Bonus points for anyone who knows where it came from (without Googling it haha, although if you don't know feel free to google it. Or Bing, or Yahoo, whatever you use). Even more bonus points if you can tell me what "Alaala" means.**

 **As always, if you enjoyed, Follow, fav, and review!**

 **PS.**

 **I almost forgot! There were a few reviews I wasn't able to respond to, because PM was disabled or they were a guest. I'll respond to them here.**

 **Guest: You aren't the first one to wonder about this. But that was a part of Ruby's dream. The Aswang doesn't have anything to do with those. There was a dream with Penny in it as well. Perhaps I need to try and make that clearer in the future, as you aren't the first to be confused by that. It might be on me.**

 **KillingerBlue: I'm glad you're enjoying it! Haha, the title is just a reference to that old saying. It's also a reference to the true nature of the monster in the story, as it can't tell any "tales", that is, it can't really talk. Worry not, the wait is over! And I like to think 2 weeks isn't so bad, some fics take forever to update haha. Look forward to next time!**


	11. First Step on the Right Path

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Hello! I apologize for the long wait for this chapter! Real life became a bit more of a priority for a few weeks due to increased workload on that end. I left a note on my profile, since I didn't want to drop an author's note chapter and get everyone's hopes up with a non-update. I'll try to let you know in advance if I think I might be swamped with too much work to get out chapters from now on.**

 **On another note, for those who were wondering, the Aswang is a monster from Filipino mythology. Generally, it's kind of like a vampire, but not quite. It's a relatively ambiguous creature, and there are many interpretations of it. Which makes it perfect to use as the namesake of this Grimm haha. Some references will be made to these interpretations in this research. Be warned, some of them are kind of disgusting. I'll try not to dwell too much on those.**

 **I do not own le RWBYs. Not a single one.**

* * *

Frowning, Jakob pored over the story in front of him. _When I had first envisioned this task, I thought it would have been easier to find the information we needed._ After all, there couldn't have been that many stories on the Aswang, right?

As it turned out, the creature had been quite impressionable on the people who first lived on Patch. There were close to a hundred different stories and fables with at least passing mention of a "creature of night". And many accounts of the creature were widely different from each other. Not to mention extremely far-fetched.

For instance, this particular story spoke of a monster which could take the form of humans, and at night would eat babies in the wombs of pregnant women. _While that's absolutely disgusting, I don't think it's accurate. The creature we've seen would just kill anything it sees, like any other Grimm._

Jotting down some notes on small sticky pad, Jakob attached it to the cover and placed it in a pile on a nearby table. Grau had insisted on a specific system of organization from the start. Once the enormity of the task began to dawn on Jakob, he could see why.

Walking over to a board, Jakob added tally marks next to the categories "appears only at night" and "able to transform appearance into humans". Those were traits which had been so far the most common among accounts of the creature.

There were a few other common categories as well. There were many mentions of a "long tongue". Shuddering in disgust, Jakob added a tally to that one. Others included "wings", "appears female", "long fangs". _None of these really make sense based on what we've seen._

There were some repeating categories that were more fitting, however. "Takes on appearance of dead people", "regeneration", "shadows".

Cardin tossed a book onto the table, and came over to the board, checking off a few categories while grumbling. "We aren't learning anything new."

Grau came over as well, checking off a few categories. "Hopefully as we read through more, we can confirm some of these less common factors."

Looking them over, Jakob couldn't help but feel doubt. _Some of these are so far out there they don't seem like they could ever be true._

"But these are ridiculous!" Cardin clearly felt the same way. "A half torso flying around?"

Grau nodded. "There are elements of truth in every fable." He walked to grab another book. "That particular part of the story was most likely inspired by the monster being cut in half and surviving. As eyewitness accounts spread, the story likely grew more and more absurd."

"How does that help us?" Cardin limped to the table with the help of his crutches.

"That's why we're tallying up common factors between accounts." Grau opened up the book. "It should help us to determine fact from fiction."

Sighing, Jakob grabbed another book, this one a bit more frayed and worn than the others. _When I brought this up, I had hoped it would help us to find a solution much more quickly._ In retrospect, that may have been wishful thinking. They had been here for hours, yet so far nothing useful had turned up. _Turns out the native population of Patch enjoyed more than their fair share of folk tales and other stories..._

Opening up the book, which was a rather thick collection of islander folk tales, Jakob scanned through the table of contents. Immediately, one of the sections popped out at him. It was written in the native language of the islanders, but there was a rough translation underneath. _Dead Men's Tales..._ The name made Jakob pause, and he felt a rush of excitement. _Could this be it? Could this have the answers we're looking for?_

Immediately, Jakob turned to that section, and began to read.

* * *

Ruby turned around, taking in all the scenery about her. At this moment, she stood atop the ruined CCT tower in Beacon. Gears were scattered everywhere, mixed in with the rubble from the building. The most disconcerting detail was the frozen visage of the Grimm Dragon. Aside from the lack of movement, it still appeared very much alive, like it would lunge forward and snatch her up at any moment.

"Ruby."

A sharp jolt of guilt stabbed through Ruby at the sound of Pyrrha's voice. Turning, she could see Pyrrha kneeling on the ground, not even looking at her. "Hey Pyrrha."

Pyrrha shifted slightly on the ground, still looking anywhere but directly at Ruby. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

A small part of Ruby's mind was aware this was a dream, and that this was not in fact Pyrrha kneeling before her, but merely a product of her imagination. Nevertheless, she responded in kind. "It has been a while. How have you been?"

"You promised to save me." Apparently Pyrrha was done with small talk. "You promised to bring me back."

The thorns of guilt dug deeper at those words, and Ruby visibly winced. "I tried as hard as I could."

Pyrrha looked up at last, an accusing look in her eyes as tears streamed down her face. "It wasn't good enough."

"Pyrrha...I'm so sorry." Ruby could barely bring herself to respond to that, but she forced herself. "I can only wish that I had been better back then...good enough to stop Cinder...good enough to save Beacon...and good enough to save you."

Pyrrha laughed, the noise sounding empty and cold. "Aren't you supposed to be some special warrior? What good is that if you can't even save your own friends?" Ruby had no response to that question. Pyrrha attempted to stand, but fell as she tried to put weight on her right leg. "Aren't you destined to be the hero of humanity? Then why couldn't you save me?"

There was the sound of a footstep from behind Ruby. She turned, only to watch as a black arrow went straight into her heart. Stumbling back and tripping over some rubble, Ruby began to choke, struggling to breathe. The arrow glowed, and a burning sensation was all Ruby could feel as she tried desperately to rise to her feet again.

* * *

Gasping for air, Ruby sat up. After a moment, she calmed down, sinking back under the covers. _Another bad dream..._

The past few nights were not the only occurrences when Ruby had been afflicted with nightmares. Ever since she had woken up after the Battle of Beacon, almost every night had been plagued by nightmares.

Ruby hadn't told anyone about this. At the time, everyone in the family, herself included, was far more concerned about the more visible wounds that had been inflicted on Yang. So Ruby had remained silent, figuring that a few bad dreams were nothing to be concerned about.

 _But they haven't stopped...I can't go to sleep without being afraid of what I'll see, who I'll remember._ A few sobs escaped Ruby despite her best efforts to hold them in.

 _I'm pathetic. The village is in real danger, they need me to be rested for tomorrow. They need a huntress, not a crybaby._

Something stirred within her. _Perhaps that's not entirely true._ A stray memory popped into her head, from before she attended Beacon...

* * *

"The most important part of this job is to maintain your humanity."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean by that, Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow sighed, taking a drink from his ever-present flask. "As hunters, our job is to fight the creatures of Grimm, as well as the more unsavory factions of mankind." Getting up, he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of hard liquor, refilling his flask and putting it away. "By nature of the profession, we are constantly facing the darkness of this world. "

Nodding, Ruby responded "Of course! It's our job to protect the people, right?"

Qrow hesitated, and nodded. "In the end, yes. But the problem lies in that we will always be fighting a battle against monsters. And because of that, we risk becoming monsters ourselves." Qrow gave Ruby a serious look. "You have to always hold on to that piece that makes you human. Otherwise, you won't have the perspective to understand what's important, why we fight them in the first place." He threw a strawberry at Ruby, and she caught it. "Something as simple as your favorite food, or a hobby, or even just experiencing positive and negative emotions, can help."

"Don't become a monster Ruby. More hunters have lost their lives to themselves than they have to any Grimm."

* * *

Ruby hadn't thought much of Qrow's little speech back then. _It seemed like a given thing, that I would always be able to stay who I was._

But now, Ruby was beginning to understand what her uncle had been talking about. She could feel herself trying to close out the pain, trying to shut down everything that made her human. _And now that I think about it, Yang's doing the same thing._

Ever since the battle of Beacon, Yang had completely shut down. Aside from the brief outburst of sadness and rage that occurred when Ruby woke up, Yang had been completely non-responsive. She never trained, never smiled, never even went out of the house very much anymore.

 _She's blocking off all of her emotions so she can't feel the pain...but in the process she's losing herself._ Ruby turned over onto her side. _If I lose myself that way...then I could become a cold-hearted monster myself._ The image of Torchwick, and the memory of his final, jaded monologue popped into her head. _I don't want to be a monster...I want to be a hero. I want to help people._

"But I can't help anyone if I don't help myself." Ruby mumbled. Rather than choke back the tears, Ruby let herself cry at last into the pillow she borrowed. After a few minutes of tears, she drifted back to sleep.

There were no more dreams that night.

* * *

Jakob turned the pages, writing notes as he went. This book held a multitude of stories, and a good number seemed to feature their particular problem. Apparently, the book was a direct translation of a book which had been written by one of the native islanders many years ago. Most of the other source material in the library was second-hand, written by people who had spoken with native islanders. _This could be the closest thing to first-hand information in this library!_

The current tale spoke of a man whose wife had been killed in a village raid. However, one night, he encountered her, and she bade him to meet her again each night. As the story progressed, the man performed many favors for his wife. Later on, the man realized that he had been tricked all along into helping his "wife" kill their neighbors. On confronting her, he realized that she was in fact a monster, and attempted to drive her away. Nothing worked, except...

Jakob jumped to his feet right away. "Grau!"

Grau looked up. "Yes, Jakob? Have you found something?" Cardin also looked up from the book he was reading.

Jakob placed the book on the table for the two to see. "Look at this!" He pointed to that part of the story. "According to this story, the man tried to drive off the Aswang, which was in the form of his dead wife. Everything that he hit her with, however, only healed up."

Grau, who was reading ahead, nodded. "But when he stabbed her in the gut, she cried out in pain, and fled."

Cardin seemed a bit lost. "How come?"

Jakob turned to earlier in the story. "His wife was killed by a stray arrow when bandits raided their village. Right in the same spot."

Grau picked up the book. "This book...interesting. It was originally written by a native."

Standing up, Jakob could hardly contain his excitement. "This could be a weakness that we can use to our advantage! And it comes from a more reliable source than the other books!"

"How do we know that part of the story is true?" Cardin sounded a bit hopeful, but he was clearly still skeptical. "We've seen a lot of crazy things in these books."

Grau's eyes widened. "Wait a minute. How did that girl, Penny, die?"

Cardin opened his mouth to respond, but then his eyes also widened in realization. "She was sliced into pieces. One of the cuts was just like when Ruby cut that Grimm in half."

Grau's eyes were triumphant. "I think it's safe to say that we've found one of the Aswang's major weaknesses." He calmed down, before continuing in a more serious tone. "However, we may need more information before we can truly be prepared."

Now Jakob seemed lost. "How come? We can hurt it now, can't we?"

Cardin shrugged, not looking surprised at all. "We can hurt it, but it still doesn't seem to die easily. If cutting it in half only hurt it, then we've still got our work cut out for us."

Grau motioned to the book in Jakob's hands. "Let's review this collection a bit more, and then try to form some theories based on all the data we've collected so far." He had a bit of a thoughtful expression on his face as he spoke.

"You already have something in mind, don't you?" Cardin inquired.

Sitting down, Grau shrugged. "I would prefer we all started coming to our own conclusions for now. I don't want to lock us into one particular theory just yet."

* * *

 **Bit of a short chapter, but I hope it doesn't disappoint! It has been a while.**

 **I don't necessarily want to give the impression that Ruby's problem is solved per say, but perhaps more that she is beginning to allow herself the freedom of feeling these emotions. Nobody gets over trauma in a single night, but the path to healing always has to start somewhere.**

 **For anyone who is also following Autumn Arc, there will be a chapter posted shortly for that story as well.**

 **Since those following Dead Men's Tales had an additional week of waiting to do, I'll be updating this story next week, and from there, continuing with the every other week of updates.**

 **Hope you're enjoying the story! Review, follow, and/or favorite if you are!**


	12. Something New, Something Old

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Not to be the guy constantly making excuses, because I actually wanted this chapter out earlier, buuuut I recently moved to my new apartment. Where I had no internet set up, until this weekend. I guess it's technically on time, but meh.**

 **In general, I'm beginning to wonder about the two week deadline I've set for myself. Usually, I'll have plenty of time to set things up in that period. But sometimes, I end up really busy for various reasons, and then I end up trying to get the chapters out in a matter of one or two days, which can feel a bit rushed at times. Perhaps I should stop trying to meet arbitrary deadlines, and just get chapters out when I feel like they are ready. What do you guys think?**

 **Own I RWBY Not**

* * *

Pain...

A sharp pain lanced through its side, a sensation that over the years had all but been forgotten, merely a memory in its sleep. For the first time in centuries, the Aswang had known pain once more. For the first time in centuries, the creature had learned fear once more.

Those eyes...those piercing silver eyes. The Aswang had lived many years, and like all ancient Grimm, had learned to fear the humans with those eyes. Long, long ago, another human with silver eyes had brought it to the edge of death. In retreat, the creature had decided at the time that for now, humanity was too well united, too powerful to do any lasting damage.

So it slept, and waited. Then one day, a wave of negative emotion unlike any the Aswang had ever known washed across the land. Immediately, it awoke, instinctively knowing that now, mankind was at its lowest point. It started with a remote village, using the visage of their fellow man to kill them one by one. This began to spread panic, sorrow, and mistrust. This of course drew in the lesser Grimm, ready to snuff out all life in the village.

Then, a chance encounter with the silver eyed one during the day had seemed like a dream come true. The human was filled with sorrow, with grief, with guilt. Using those memories, the Aswang was able to take the form of powerful human foes to assault the village, and breach its outer defenses. Only the presence of the silver eyed one prevented the night from being a complete success. The Aswang was patient however, content to wait another night to finish them off.

More humans came, but at first they seemed to be little threat. They were able to buy time at best, slaying many of the lesser Grimm. They were weaker than the silver eyed one however, and were little match for the Aswang's acquired forms. And soon, they would have fallen, and the rest of the village would have fallen with them. But one strike by the silver-eyed one, and all of that changed.

Had it been luck? Perhaps, but the Aswang was uncertain. The silver-eyed ones were always quite cunning. Perhaps it knew. Regardless, it was likely that the humans would have figured it out now anyways. And this made them a considerable threat.

Run? Find another village to destroy? These questions echoed in the Grimm's old and sharp mind, but in the end, it decided against it. Silver-eyed ones were quite rare, and usually there were only one or two of them in each generation of humans.

If the Aswang was able to kill this one, then humanity would be all the more vulnerable. And with humanity's darkest hour upon them, the risk was well worth it.

Tonight, the village would fall. And the silver-eyed one would fall with it. Licking its lips with anticipation, the Aswang waited for the rise of the shattered moon once more.

* * *

Groaning, Cardin leaned back on the pull out bed he had been offered. After their last strategy session, Grau had told them both to go to sleep. The Punainens had been kind enough to offer places for all of them to sleep. Ruby was currently in the guest room. Russel and Sky were on a spare mattress on the floor. Dove slept on a spare comforter on the floor in the other room. And Grau slept in his own sleeping bag, right near the door.

 _Only a few more hours before night falls._ Cardin was finding it rather difficult to sleep, despite being exhausted and having one of the most comfortable sleeping places of the group. _It isn't like I'll actually be doing anything tonight._

Perhaps that was the reason he couldn't sleep? After all, the rest of his team was going to be doing their part to defend the village, while he was going to be lying here in this room, waiting for it to be over. _They'll either be successful or we'll all be dead, but either way, I won't be able to help at all._ Cardin always prided himself in being strong, but now his life rested entirely in the hands of his teammates, some guy he'd never met before, Grau, and most notably Ruby, who'd always been at odds with him. _I hate feeling so helpless._

Cardin's thoughts were interrupted when there was a creak in the floorboards near the stairs. Turning, he could see that boy, Jakob heading towards the kitchen, his eyebrows creased with worry. _I'm not the only one who can't sleep, it would seem._

As soon as Jakob walked back into view, a glass of water in hand, Cardin waved him down. "Hey, could you get me some water too?"

Jumping slightly, Jakob stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, sure." He placed his glass down on a table, and went back into the kitchen. Moments later, Jakob returned with another glass of water. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Cardin took a sip from the glass. As Jakob began walking away, Cardin called out. "Hold on a moment."

Jakob turned around, a look of confusion on his face. "Yes?"

"Why have you been helping us? It's not your job to protect the village." This question had been on Cardin's mind all day. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but it just seems like most people would be fine letting us do all the work."

Shrugging, Jakob responded "Those people are idiots. We're the ones who live here, and if you guys don't succeed then everyone here will be dead. Besides..." Jakob stopped talking, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Besides what?"

Jakob straightened up a bit. "I want to become a Huntsman someday. And how can I even think about that if I didn't do something to help you guys save our village?"

Cardin didn't say anything for a moment, simply looking over Jakob. It was clear from the determination in his eyes that Jakob was serious. Naive and inexperienced for sure, but serious nonetheless. _If that's the case...then I guess I owe the kid one anyways for the help._ "Come here."

Blinking in surprise, Jakob complied. "Is it something I said?"

"Shut up and hold still." Cardin placed a hand on Jakob's chest and head. "Close your eyes." Sitting up as best as he could, Cardin closed his eyes, and reached out with his aura, chanting:

" _In youth we liken to pillars of strength._

 _As ages pass we obtain wisdom and depth._

 _A shield for the people, a blade for glory,_

 _I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."_

As Cardin chanted, his aura shone ever brighter, a simple dark grey color. As it flowed into Jakob, the color changed to a light blue, and soon, Jakob was glowing with aura of his own. "That should do it." Cardin panted, falling back onto the couch.

Stumbling back, Jakob looked at his hands in wonder. "What did you just do?"

"I unlocked your aura for you. You'll need it if you're going to become a Huntsman." Cardin lay back, feeling exhausted. "Don't do anything stupid like try to join the fight for the village right now though. You still aren't strong enough to help much. But you can start training a bit before heading to a combat school, and you'll have a bit of an advantage over the other new students."

Jakob was still looking at his arms, admiring the glow coming from them. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Then don't bother. I was just returning the favor for you helping us." Cardin let out a short laugh. "Also, it'll be real easy for me to go to sleep now. Unlocking someone's aura apparently takes a lot out you."

Finally, Jakob stopped looking at his arms, and was now looking at Cardin. There was a familiar expression on his face, but in his tired stupor, Cardin couldn't place a name to it. "Thank you."

Closing his eyes, Cardin waved him away. "No problem, now get lost."

As Jakob's footsteps indicated that he was leaving the room, even as his consciousness began to fade, Cardin finally managed to put a word to the expression on Jakob's face. _It was gratitude. He was grateful for what I had done._

A rare, genuine smile made its way onto Cardin's face as he drifted into sleep. _I could get used to...having people look at me that way..._

* * *

In each of the buildings dotted around the village, there were at least one or two faces glancing out the window, watching them as they prepared. _They're all scared._ Ruby finished cleaning her weapon and began putting the pieces back together. _No wonder. Every night we've been out here, someone has been hurt._

Around her, the three junior members of team CRDL were making similar preparations. Turning, Ruby glanced at each one of them. _The villagers aren't the only ones who are nervous._

Sky was simply stretching out, as his weapon was relatively simple and therefore low-maintenance. At the moment, he was going through a few forms, a bit of an anxious expression on his face. They hadn't talked about it, but Ruby felt like Sky was disappointed in his performance the previous night, having been knocked out so easily.

Russel was sorting through some cartridges of dust-evidently, his weapons had Multi-Action Dust functions to Myrtenaster. However, he rarely ended up using it, because unlike Weiss, he lacked a steady supply of dust, and it was very expensive. After some discussion with Grau, he had agreed that they needed to pull out all of the stops tonight. It hadn't taken too long to convince him, Russel had been jittery ever since he woke up, expressing it by swearing even more than usual.

Dove was checking out his sword's gun function, cleaning it in a similar fashion as to how Ruby had just done for Crescent Rose. Like the other two, he showed signs of being nervous. Taking apart and cleaning the gun attachment for his sword seemed to be calming him down somewhat, a feeling Ruby could relate to.

 _That's the weirdest thing...I can actually relate to these guys now._ Before this mission had ever started, Ruby could never have imagined working side by side with team CRDL. Yet, after only a day or so, she found that she could understand them as people, if just a little bit. It would definitely be a stretch to consider them her friends- _I can't forgive what they've done to Jaune and Velvet that easily-_ but when push comes to shove, Ruby felt she could count on them as fellow Huntsmen, if nothing else.

Swinging her weapon around a bit to loosen up, Ruby focused on her strikes, imagining them cutting through her opponents. After a few minutes, she stopped, feeling as ready as ever. _We need to end this tonight. If that thing can keep throwing Grimm at the village, then it will only be a matter of time before it falls._

Grau appeared, talking with the mayor. "It would be best if you moved everyone into the houses towards the center of town. I can't guarantee that anyone in the outlying homes will be safe tonight. "

Mrs. Sininen spread her arms out in exasperation. "No one is going to like that. They all feel safe in their own homes."

"They won't feel safe if they get mauled by a Beowolf in their own home." Grau's voice began rising as he struggled to control his temper. "And if things are going to be anywhere close to as bad as it was last night, I don't think we'll be able to keep the Grimm horde out of the village entirely." Pausing, he continued in a slightly calmer tone of voice "In fact, if you can get everyone into the same building that would be ideal. Mr. Berde is going to stay back a little and stand guard, and that would make his job much easier."

Slowly nodding Mrs. Sininen replied in a placating tone "Fine, I'll spread the word to have everyone evacuate into the town hall. It's the most fortified building." Her expression seemed rather reluctant, but she walked off regardless and began knocking on doors, sending other people around to spread the message.

Muttering to himself, Grau walked over to the group of hunters in training, seeming to compose himself on the way. "Are we all clear on the plan for tonight?" Everyone nodded. "Then let's get in position. The sun is already setting."

Ruby climbed on top of one of the buildings on the outside of the village, shifting her weapon into its rifle form. From there, she could see Dove, Russel, Sky, and Grau move up and position themselves. Dove took point, with Russel and Sky backing him up. Grau shifted his own weapon into machine-gun mode, positioning himself so the boys weren't in his line of fire.

She could also see Mr. Berde motioning for everyone in the village to file into the town hall. Jakob entered last, giving one last concerned glance in their direction, before Mr. Berde closed the door, and took up position in front of it. _We have to do our best to keep them from getting that far. Mr. Berde is strong enough to take on a few Beowolves, but he can't last long._

Reaching for her belt, Ruby wasn't reassured by what she felt. The past few nights had used up quite a bit of her ammunition, and the village didn't have the specialized rounds utilized by Crescent Rose on hand either. By her count, Ruby only had four ammo cartridges left, including the one that was currently loaded into the gun. _Grau mentioned he was also running a bit low...we'll need to make each shot count._

The plan was to allow Ruby to play a supporting role in the defense of the village, while the others engaged the Grimm more directly. The Grimm, just like they had every other night, were likely to try and attack where the turrets were already destroyed, so they would hold the line as best as they could. When the Aswang appeared, Ruby was to drop everything and fight it, while the others continued to hold off the Grimm. If she was able to kill it, then they merely had to clean up the rest.

Everyone had been in favor of Ruby being the one to take it down. Even the remaining members of team CRDL seemed to grudgingly agree that she was better suited to the task than they were.

But first...they needed to keep everyone alive.

"What the hell...already?!"

Ruby's head shot up as Russel cried out. Several yards in front of them, a mass of shifting shadows was taking form.

Without hesitation, Ruby shot off the roof in a storm of red petals, landing in front of the defenders and advancing on the apparition, Crescent Rose shifting into scythe mode as she walked. "I've got this." she called backwards, stopping them all in their tracks. Coming to a stop several yards away from the shadows, Ruby dropped into a stance, Crescent Rose extended before her.

All at once, the shadows took shape, assuming the form of Roman Torchwick. "Little Red, Little Red." It tisked as it strode forward. "You are just determined to be the hero of Vale, aren't you?"

Ruby did not respond, knowing full well this thing would barely understand her anyways. _This isn't a good start though...I don't know if I can do anything to it that would be the same as getting eaten._

To her surprise, the Aswang shifted again, taking on Pyrrha's form instead. "You know, if you ever need help, you can just ask."

Ruby glared at the monster in the form of her friend, her mind racing. _How dare this thing pretend to be my friend!_ Preparing for an attack, Ruby calmed down. _I need to be careful though, she's pretty good._ _Wait, not she, it! It isn't actually Pyrrha out there!_ Ruby shook her head, trying to clear it and remain focused.

The Aswang seemed content to hold back for the moment. It even changed forms again, taking on the likeness of Penny. "I just don't want you to get in any trouble."

 _I need to stop this now, before I really lose focus._ At that moment, Ruby shot forward, aiming her scythe at its arms, where they had been severed on the real Penny.

Penny jumped above her as she shot forward, and Ruby found herself swinging at thin air. Turning quickly, Ruby prepared to strike again.

But stopped right in her tracks, eyes wide with shock. _No...it can't be..._

Standing before her was a young looking woman, not much taller than Ruby was. Her hair was a simple dark color, and she wore a white cloak. She possessed an incredibly striking pair of eyes with a unique color, which triggered some faint memories from Ruby's childhood. She also saw those eyes every time she looked into a mirror.

"I'm glad you've had so much fun playing outside Ruby." Smiling, the silver-eyed woman motioned for Ruby to come to her. "But it's time to come home now."

Frozen in shock, Ruby could only mutter one word.

"M-mom?"

* * *

 **Well, that's one hell of a cliffhanger to drop this chapter on.**

 **Some of you may have seen this coming though. After all, memories of dead people? Of course Summer is going to pop up, in some way or another. Although it gives me kind of free reign to have her say whatever, since we never actually hear her talk in the show, I'm going to stick with phrases a mother might say to her little girl because, well, that would have been the case here.**

 **People seem to have different ideas about how aura is unlocked, specifically the chant used to unlock it. Many seem to think that the chant Pyrrha used is a universal one. Some think that the chant Pyrrha used was specifically passed down her family line, and that other families have different chants. Until we actually see someone else getting their aura unlocked, we won't know for sure haha. For the purposes of this story, I'm going to assume the latter, and that each chant reflects the virtues which the family values the most. When writing the chant Cardin uses here, I made the assumption that the Winchester line is a very warlike one, and that they would value strength, wisdom, and serving one's country in battle above all else. Cardin reflects these values, if generally the negative aspects of them.**

 **I would like to let everyone know that Dead Men's Tales is coming close to completion. I never intended for the story to be a very long one from the start. My plan was to complete the story before the start of Volume 4, although it's looking like a close race now, due to the break I ended up taking. You can expect at least 3 more chapters, as well as an epilogue of sorts, which I will talk about more in later chapters.**

 **If you have enjoyed the story so far, please review, follow, and/or favorite!**


	13. A Poor Imitation

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out!**

 **If you've been following my other story, Autumn Arc, you already know that I've given up on a consistent updating schedule, for various reasons. Worry not, as I still plan to update!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

For Ruby, everything seemed to be blurred and fuzzy. The village and the forest surrounding it were indistinguishable in her mind, all of it melding into a mixture of darkness. Only the face of her mother was in focus. Stumbling forward, Ruby could only stare in disbelief. "Mom? Is that really you?"

Smiling ever so slightly, Summer Rose nodded. "Yes dear, I've come home."

At the edges of her vision, there appeared to be movement of some form. Specs of black racing by her. But none of that seemed to matter to Ruby. "Where have you been?" Ruby's voice sounded lost, like that of a small child.

Laughing with a joyful mirth, Summer walked up to Ruby, and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I had another job to do, that's all."

Somewhere, in the background, Ruby could just barely hear voices calling out to her. "...snap out of it" "...wake up..."

These faint voices were enough to arouse a faint suspicion in Ruby's mind, and she backed away from her mother. "Who's calling to me?"

A slightly annoyed look seemed to cross Summer's face, before vanishing so quickly that Ruby wasn't even sure she saw it in the first place. "Your father is calling us in. Let's not keep him waiting."

At the edge of her awareness, Ruby just barely made out a cry of pain. The voice was male, but it didn't really sound like her father's. _But if Mom says it's okay then maybe I should trust her..._ Ruby smiled and walked closer to Summer.

Summer's smile seemed just a bit sinister as she held her arms out. "Come give Mommy a hug."

Transfixed, Ruby walked forward, arms outstretched-

And flinched away as a bullet zoomed by her head, hitting Summer right in the eye.

Suddenly, everything around her seemed to clear up at once. Ruby could see the shadows healing the bullet wound, as Summer seemed to tsk in annoyance. She could hear Russel, Dove, and Sky calling out to her, even as Grau instructed them to pay attention to the enemy in front of them. Dove's sword was outstretched, smoke coming out of the hilt. Clearly, he had been the one to fire the shot.

Ruby could also finally see the Beowolves and Ursai racing past her and Summer, as they moved to attack the village.

Suddenly, the Grimm seemed to notice her as well, lunging at her all at once. Leaping back in a flash of red, Ruby rejoined the other hunters.

"About time you snapped out of it!" Russel sounded annoyed, but a little relieved as well. "What the hell was going on?"

The full depth of what had happened sunk in, and Ruby felt fury like she had rarely felt in her entire life. "That thing took on my mother's form." Turning, to Dove, she nodded. "Thanks for the help."

Grau went pale, even as he continued to mow down the approaching Grimm. "Summer Rose? We have to fight your mother?!"

Ruby turned to him. "You know her?"

"I know of her." Grau was visibly sweating. "She was one of the strongest huntresses of her generation."

Dove, Russel, and Sky all seemed to flinch at that. "We have to fight a full-fledged huntress?!" Sky cried out, grunting as he knocked back an approaching Beowolf with the shaft of his weapon.

To the group's surprise, Ruby smiled. "Maybe not." She began striding out towards the Aswang. An Ursa managed to avoid the machine gunfire from Grau and lunged at her, only to fall onto its face as Ruby sliced off its front paw and impaled it with the blade of Crescent Rose. "My mother was pretty good, that's for sure." Ruby continued to move forward as she called back.

"But I've never seen her fight."

* * *

Jakob poked his head out to where Mr. Berde and Cardin were standing guard. Although standing might not have been the right term for Cardin, who was seated in a chair near the door, a borrowed rifle in his hands. "What's going on?"

Cardin shrugged. "We can't see anything yet. But from the sounds of things, the battle has started." Gunfire echoed through the town, punctuated by the occasional howl of a Beowolf.

Mr. Berde nodded. "With any luck, we won't see anything at all before this night is over."

Cardin's grip on his weapon tightened to the point that his knuckles were white. He whispered something under his breath, which Jakob barely caught. "...better not die on me..."

 _He's worried about his team, and the others_. Jakob felt the same way. Maybe he didn't know the rest of team CRDL very well, but Cardin had worked alongside him all day, and then even unlocked his aura for him. Grau had taught him so much about the Grimm as they had worked. And Ruby...

From the start, Ruby had been so kind to him, so encouraging. Perhaps that was just how she was. Yet Jakob couldn't help but feel a bit touched by the gestures she had made. Remembering the scene where he had started crying, and she had comforted him, Jakob couldn't help but blush slightly.

An image of Mrs. Levinson's gruesome body popped into his head. It shifted forms, and soon, Mrs. Levinson had been replaced with Ruby, her silver eyes dull and lifeless, and her blood spilling onto the ground. The blush on Jakob's face was replaced by a deathly pallor as he remembered exactly what they were dealing with. Ruby was out here fighting against a monster. An Aswang, which, according to Grau, was a creature even a full-fledged hunter would have trouble defeating.

 _Please don't die Ruby._ Jakob begged in his mind, imploring any god who would listen to hear his plea. _Please!_

* * *

Moving forward, Ruby sliced through Beowolf after Beowolf, sending pieces of their bodies flying in every direction. An Ursa moved forward to try and attack her, only to be beheaded in a single stroke. Bullets mowed down another pack of Beowolves as they attempted to approach her, Grau taking them all down with mechanical efficiency. Within moments, Ruby made her way back to 'Summer'.

'Summer' smiled at her and spoke in a soft tone. "Play nice, Ruby."

A similar haze like the one she felt earlier began to appear, but Ruby angrily fought it off, slicing the visage of her mother in half. "I'm not going to fall for that again!" The strange feeling in her mind ceased, and everything returned back to focus.

The shadows shifted, and the Aswang changed forms to look like Pyrrha. Brandishing Miló and Akoú o, the sword and shield of the fallen champion, the apparition charged forward.

 _I was right! It doesn't know how my mother fights!_ Ducking out of the way of the Aswang's first strike, Ruby rolled and came to her feet. 'Pyrrha' was quick to respond, tossing her shield at Ruby's head. Blocking it with the haft of her scythe, Ruby surged forward, swinging her weapon in a diagonal arc downwards. 'Pyrrha leapt up, catching her shield as it fell down, and vaulted over Crescent Rose, all in one smooth movement.

Finding the enemy literally inside of her guard, Ruby was unable to block the upward slice scoring across her torso. Wincing, Ruby hit the trigger of her weapon, using the recoil to escape, as well as to slice the creature of shadows in half.

In theory, anyways. 'Pyrrha' was fast enough to duck underneath the blade at the last moment. Pivoting to redirect the force of her shot, Ruby flipped the weapon into rifle mode, and fired a series of shots towards the apparition. 'Pyrrha' simply raised her shield and blocked the shots, advancing as she did so.

Gears shifting in her weapon, Ruby swung at the Aswang just as it came into range. The attack was blocked, but the force of the blow pushed it back. Ruby made to follow, but was forced to dodge as a Beowolf lunged at her from behind. As it landed, she swung the blade upwards, slicing off its head and blocking a sword strike from the Aswang all at once. However, 'Pyrrha' spun around low to the ground, sweeping Ruby's legs out from underneath her. Rolling as she hit the ground, Ruby fired a shot as she came up to propel her further away.

Taking the last clip from her belt, Ruby loaded it into Crescent Rose. _These are the shots that will really count. I can't waste them yet._ Glancing over to the others, Ruby could see that they were holding the line for now. But Grau wouldn't have ammunition for that much longer, and the members of CRDL were beginning to look a bit fatigued. _I have to finish this quickly!_ In a flash of rose petals, Ruby shot towards the Aswang.

The next thing Ruby knew, a bronze shield was being rammed into her abdomen, her momentum adding to the force of the blow. "Gahhh...!" A series of sword swings followed, forcing her back as she tried to regain her breath. One of the Aswang's swings went wide, and Ruby counterattacked, scoring a deep gash across its body.

Unfortunately, this had about as much effect as one could expect, as the shadows simply healed the wound. Jumping back, Ruby glared at the monster wearing her friend's face. 'Pyrrha' simply smiled and waved at her. "Hello again!"

A wave of sorrowful nostalgia washed over Ruby at the familiar greeting, but she shook it off quickly. _I have to be more careful. This thing is fighting just like Pyrrha...and she was easily one of the best in our class._

After two semesters sparring and watching others spar, Ruby had begun to pick up on many of her classmate's weaknesses. Weiss didn't have much endurance, and her technique got sloppy when she was tired. Cardin was slow, and got frustrated easily when he couldn't land a blow. Ruby was even aware of her own weaknesses, primarily that she struggled with unarmed combat, leaving her vulnerable in close range.

Yet even after several months of observing her fight, Ruby had yet to see a weakness in Pyrrha's fighting style. She had excellent reflexes, incredible control over her weapon and its various forms, perfect marksmanship, was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and was incredibly gifted at reading her opponents. This all didn't even take into account her semblance, which on its own would be enough to take down most opponents as long as they were armed with metal. _How can I win?_

The Aswang shifted Miló into its javelin form, and slung Akoú o over its back. As it approached, Ruby turned aside a thrust with her weapon, only for the other end of the javelin to strike across her face. Reeling from the blow, Ruby was unable to defend against the follow up thrust. Without aura, Ruby would have been skewered for certain, as it was, she was merely knocked back by the force of the blow.

 _This isn't possible...how can I possibly beat her?_ Ruby dodged to the side as Miló whistled through the air where her head used to be. Disappearing in a flash of red petals, Ruby repositioned herself behind 'Pyrrha', and switched the blade of Crescent Rose to its fully extended form. Rushing forward, she extended the weapon to stab her from behind. However, the Aswang was able to turn around and take a stance. _No!_

Moments later, Ruby's weapon pierced the apparition in the heart. It barely even made a move to defend itself. Screeching inhumanly, it backed up, the shadows struggling to close the wound.

Stunned, Ruby could hardly believe it. _How did that attack hit? Pyrrha would definitely have blocked an attack like that with ease, so why didn't it?_ Almost absently, Ruby cut an attacking Beowolf in half as it tried to claw at her. _Wait a minute...the move I just used, I came up with it when I was training at home...after Pyrrha died._

It was starting to make sense. Every time she attacked it, it counterattacked in a manner that was incredibly familiar. The Aswang was using Ruby's memories of watching Pyrrha fight, this was true. But more specifically, it was using Ruby's memories of sparring against Pyrrha to perfectly counter attack every time Ruby tried to make a move. So when Ruby attacked it with a move she had never used on Pyrrha when she was alive, it hesitated, unsure what to do.

 _I've been thinking about this the wrong way...I've been thinking that there is no way I can beat Pyrrha._ The Aswang seemed to get ahold of itself, although shadowy smoke still rose from the wound it had just received. _But this thing isn't Pyrrha. It doesn't have dust. It doesn't have her semblance. And most importantly...it can't adapt as quickly as she does!_

Ruby swung her scythe down in an overhand arc. 'Pyrrha' dodged inwards and to the right, coming in to strike with an overhand of her own. However, Ruby dodged the blow, and shifted her weapon to rifle form, having expected that exact counterattack. Turing her weapon around, she fired it point blank into the Aswang's sword arm.

A burst of flame dust inveloped the creature's arm, the force of the shot severing it entirely. The cries of agony it made sounded like a mix of Pyrrha's voice and a loud ghostly wailing. The noise was haunting, and Ruby couldn't help but notice a contrast between the noise and Pyrrha's quiet cries when she was killed. She also couldn't help but feel a bit horrified, the visage of the Aswang's severed arm invoking memories of her sister Yang.

Shaking her head, Ruby brought herself back into focus. _Now isn't the time for this...I have to finish it._ The Aswang approached, trying to smash Ruby with Akoú o. But its movements were wild, shaky, and predictable. Ruby knocked the shield aside with the butt of the rifle, and aimed it point blank at the heart.

Everything seemed to pause momentarily. 'Pyrrha' looked directly at Ruby, eyes filled with a hatred which Pyrrha had never shown in real life. "Do you believe in destiny?"

Ruby stared right back in defiance. "No."

And shot a fire dust round directly into its chest.

* * *

Grau grimaced. His ammunition hadn't lasted as long as he would have liked, and they had been fighting in close quarters for some time now. He felt fatigue settling into his muscles, but it was clear that the junior huntsmen were suffering more than he was.

Sky was being pressed hard by a group of Beowolves. Every time he killed one, another would immediately take its place. In his exhaustion, he seemed like he was finding it harder and harder to defend himself.

Stepping forward, Grau intercepted the group. Slashing one of the monster's throats with the heavy blade of his spear, he impaled another as it came forward. The spear tip protruded out the other end of the Beowolf and fired, killing another one as it came forward. Sky was able to take down the other two, although he collapsed to one knee afterwards.

"Keep it up, we're almost in the clear." Grau could see that Dove and Russel were in a similar condition, but his words were nonetheless true. The pack had thinned out considerably since the night had begun, and now only a small number of Beowolves and a couple of Ursa remained a threat.

Russel loaded a cartridge of dust into each of his daggers, and activated them. Crossing his arms, he swung both daggers around, unleashing a deadly stream of wind dust in the process. The wind generated shot out in an x-shape, slicing through an approaching Ursa and killing it. Dove, having long since run out of ammunition, approached the other one, and stabbed it through the neck.

Grau braced himself, and charged the last four Beowolves. With one swing, he decapitated one, and maimed another. Sky bashed another's head in with his weapon, and Russel took the other Beowolf down by severing its spine. With one last thrust, Grau finished off the Beowolf he had maimed.

With that, the last of the Grimm had been destroyed. All except for the Aswang. Panting, Grau turned to address the junior huntsmen. "We may be tired, but we should help Ruby out."

Falling over, Dove pointed in Ruby's general direction. "Doesn't look like she needs it."

Grau turned just in time to watch Ruby fire a round directly into the Aswang's chest. From the screams it began to make, it seemed like this had been more than effective. "Looks like you're right." He began to watch, trying to observe how the creature would behave in its last moments.

 _Fascinating, the screams sound like the creature is losing its grip on the form it has taken. Perhaps that's why it fled the other night when we hurt it?_ 'Pyrrha's visage was covered in shadows, and the face was gripped by terror. Ruby had turned her face away, walking a few steps towards the group. _She's probably being reminded of her friend's death...this can't have been a pleasant experience._

The Aswang's face changed, to take on a form Grau hadn't seen. A man with orange hair, a bowler hat, long eyelashes, and green eyes. Oddly enough, the body didn't change, staying in Pyrrha's form. Then, it took on the face of Penny, the girl from the other night. Finally, it seemed to settle on the face of Summer Rose. _How strange...the voice hasn't changed even though the face keeps changing._

No, that wasn't entirely true. The undertones of Pyrrha had faded, and the noise was now only a ghostly wail.

Turning towards Ruby, the Aswang's face changed expressions from agony to hatred. The shadows surrounding the creature grew in volume, and it began changing form again.

Alarmed, Grau cried out "Ruby! Watch out!" Dove, Russel, and Sky struggled to their feet as he continued to shout. "It isn't over yet!"

* * *

Turning in response to Grau's exclamation, Ruby momentarily saw the face of her mother, twisted in an unnatural expression of hatred. This was replaced by a mask with red eyes, and Ruby immediately leapt back, feeling danger. Shadows were coursing through the air, and as Crescent Rose shifted into scythe form, they all collected at the Aswang's location, solidifying all at once.

The Aswang stood slowly, and stretched out. It had a woman-like figure, although was a full head taller than Cardin. It had jet black skin, with bone white armor plates here and there across its torso. Two massive wings protruded from its back. The mask looked vaguely like one that would be worn at a masquerade ball, the red markings glowing ominously in the dark of night. The mouth was human sized, but two fangs protruded out of the sides, much like a vampire's teeth. The hair was also black, going down to the creature's shoulders. Its left arm was long enough to reach the ground, and it had long black talons on each finger. The arm appeared to be disjointed.

It was a terrifying image. Luckily, it appeared that the damage they had done before had taken its toll on the monster. It had no right arm, and there was a large scar diagonally across its torso. There was also a massive burn mark in the middle of its chest.

However, the Aswang appeared to have some fight left in it. It stepped forward, and stood in front of Ruby. For a moment, they both just seemed to size the other up. Ruby's mind was racing. _This must be the Aswang's true form! It didn't die from that last attack, but it's clearly hurting._ Despite the creature having survived her last shot, Ruby didn't feel as disheartened as one might think. _It's just me and a Grimm now._ There would be no more tricks, no more messing around with ghosts of the past. Now, it was just a monster, just like all of the other monsters she had been training to kill since she was a child.

Howling with a ghostly cry which pierced the night, the Aswang took to the air, and swooped down at Ruby. Tensing, Ruby prepared herself. _Time to finish this thing for good._

* * *

 **I imagine the Aswang's howl would sound very similar to the cry which the Cleric Beast from Bloodborne makes. Look it up on Youtube if you want to have context for that.**

 **There were some people who called that I would have Summer Rose featured as a form for the Aswang in this story. And of course, they were right. However, the Aswang only used the form to try and trick Ruby. If she had accepted that hug from earlier, then it would have changed into its real form, and held on to her while tearing her apart. Ruby never saw her mother fight, so the Aswang had no way of fighting while in the form of Summer.**

 **Again, I apologize for making everyone wait so long. I have a lot of things I need to work on for school and otherwise. At the same time, I hate submitting chapters before I've reviewed them extensively. I actually wanted to release this chapter on last Sunday, but there were a few things that weren't quite the way I wanted them, so I worked on it for a bit longer. I'll do my best to ensure you don't have to wait as long for the next chapter.**

 **On a side note, I am really enjoying Volume 4 so far. The bit with Yang perfectly highlights my feelings every time I see some comment that says "But she'll just get a robot arm now." Her losing her arm was a devastating physical wound, but the trauma which she endured is what is truly weighing her down. Now she's scared to return to the life of a huntress, afraid that she'll get hurt again. All the confidence she once had is gone now, and she'll need to build her courage before she can even think about taking up that arm and returning to the life of a warrior.**

 **Volume 4 has influenced a few lines of dialogue, specifically the "Do you believe in destiny?" line. Since Ruby heard it in her dream, we can surmise that either she overheard their conversation while on her way up...or something else is going on. Either way it works. Other than that, the story is proceeding as planned. Nothing I've said so far has really been debunked yet.**

 **Other than the total communications drop, but I figure that it took them a few months to configure the failsafes that allowed communication throughout the kingdom. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Favorite, follow, and/or leave a review if you did!**


	14. Darkness's Curtain Call

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Well, here we are, at the penultimate chapter. The final battle, to decide if the village lives, or dies.**

 **No more preamble. Let's get right into it!**

* * *

Upon releasing its inhuman howl, the Aswang swooped down at Ruby, slashing at her with its left hand. Ruby blocked the strike, sparks flying as the creature's claws scraped down the shaft of Crescent Rose. Letting out a battle cry, Ruby pushed away the talons and struck, aiming at its wings. At the last moment, it dropped low to the ground, ducking underneath the massive blade as it cleaved through the air.

Jumping back, Ruby was just in time to avoid the clawed arm reaching out to grab at her legs. _It's even faster than it was when it was pretending to be Pyrrha!_

Russel leapt through the air, flipping around and swinging his daggers down at the Aswang. It rolled to the side and sprung upwards, lashing out with its claws. Ducking the attack, Russel came forward with a thrust, while Ruby approached from behind with another horizontal strike. With a flap of its wings, the Aswang took to the air. Since she was farther away, Ruby's attack missed entirely, and Russel was only able to get a glancing blow with his counterattack.

Blood was drawn however, and the Aswang howled in pain as it took off. Landing on a rooftop, it glared at them, red eyes filled with malice.

"Hah!" Russel shouted in triumph. "Not so tough now that we can touch you, are you?"

In response, the humanoid Grimm merely dove at him, swinging around to plant both of its clawed feet into his face. Caught off guard by the unusual method of attack, Russel was sent flying.

Planting Crescent Rose into the ground, Ruby took aim. A shot of fire dust soared towards the exposed back of the Aswang, scorching it on impact. Enraged, the Aswang turned around, opening its mouth.

To everyone's shock, a long, thin black tongue extended from it, ensnaring the shaft of Crescent Rose from almost 10 yards away. "Gahh!" Ruby lurched forward, losing her grip on the weapon as the Aswang jerked its head back. As the scythe flew across the clearing, the Aswang flew towards Ruby. Eyes wide, she flew backwards in a burst of rose petals, just as a set of claws raked through the space she had previously occupied.

Turning towards her, the Aswang shot its tongue through the air again, latching onto Ruby's arm. Frantically, she pulled at the appendage in an attempt to remove it, but to no avail. Suddenly, the tongue retracted, pulling Ruby towards the Aswang with inhuman strength. _Not good!_

At the last moment before her arm was dragged into its mouth, she turned and braced her legs against the creature's face. Straining with all her might, Ruby was just barely able to keep her arm out of reach of the Aswang's fangs.

Snarling, the Aswang raised its claw to strike at her, only to swing at Dove instead, as he approached. On the other side, Sky swung low at its legs, forcing it to jump back. In the process, the tongue around Ruby's arm loosened, and she was able to yank her arm free, falling to the ground.

Grau moved in, slamming the shaft of his spear into the Aswang's face. As it stumbled back, he swung, opening up a cut on its torso. Screeching with pain, it swung down at Grau, and he blocked it. However, the force of the swing still caused him to almost fall to his knees. Capitalizing on this, the creature lifted its right leg and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back. With a crash, Grau flew through a house and landed on the other side.

Grunting, Grau stood and pointed his weapon at the Aswang. The spearhead fired, whistling through the air and nestling between the legs of the Grimm. Retracting the cord, Grau flew through the air and landed a kick of his own, knocking the monster to the ground.

Hissing, the Aswang spun around, taking Grau's feet out from under him. It pinned him down with one foot and furiously struck over and over again, Grau trying desperately to defend with his spear.

Running forward, Dove and Sky attempted to attack from both sides. Snarling, the creature stomped on Grau's torso, causing him to cry out as grey sparks flew around his body. The Aswang then simply took to the air again, narrowly avoiding Dove and Sky's attacks. Howling once more, it started flying towards the center of the village.

"It's going after the villagers!" Dove shouted. "We need to stop it!" He ran after it, closely followed by Sky.

Ruby almost made to follow, but stopped on realizing she was still unarmed. She looked around frantically for Crescent Rose. After being snagged by the Aswang's tongue, Ruby had lost track of its exact location. _I can't fight that thing without my weapon…Where is it?_

"Here." Turning, Ruby was just in time to catch the shaft of Crescent Rose as it was tossed to her.

Catching it, Ruby nodded in appreciation to Russel. "Thanks." Russel returned the nod before running off after his teammates. Turning to Grau, she called out to him. "Are you okay?"

Wheezing and coughing, Grau attempted to rise, but wasn't quite able to succeed. Gesturing in the direction of the village, he managed to get out "I…I'm fine…go!"

In a flash of petals, Ruby immediately made to follow the others.

* * *

Mr. Berde suddenly pointed his gun up, his eyes scanning the square and the sky above it. "I hear wingbeats."

Jakob gripped the edge of the doorway in apprehension. "Wings?"

Cardin swore under his breath. "Nevermores?" He began scanning the sky from the window he was guarding.

Raising his other hand, Jakob found that he was shaking. _Those howls from earlier have quieted down._ He had never heard something so terrifying in his entire life. But for several minutes now, things had been eerily silent.

That silence was broken moments later as another howl seemed to fill the square, causing Jakob to jump and stumble, falling to the ground. A terrifying creature came from around a building, landing in the center of the square. Eyes wide, Jakob peered around the corner. Whatever this thing was, it almost looked human. _But it's also undoubtable that this thing is a Grimm…a monster._

Cardin snarled. "So that's what that thing really looks like." Despite his words, he was trembling, and his eyes were alight with fear. After a moment, Jakob realized why.

 _If the Aswang is here…what happened to the others?_ The image of Ruby bleeding out on the ground returned, and Jakob felt like someone had dumped his heart into a bucket of ice water.

Mr. Berde made one final check on his weapon, then turned to Cardin. "Once it notices us, I'm going to try and draw its attention away from this building. If it gets inside here, we're all finished."

Cardin growled. "Don't go getting your ass killed old man." Even so, he glanced at his leg, propped up in a cast, and snarled in frustration.

With a screech, the Aswang turned to the building, red eyes blazing with malevolence. Sprinting out the door, Mr. Berde began circling the square, firing shots at the Grimm on the run. Hissing, the Aswang took off, diving towards him with its claws extended. At the last moment, Mr. Berde dropped to the ground, the creature soaring overhead.

Grunting, Cardin began firing shots of his own. Although he seemed unused to the weapon, most of the shots seemed to make their mark. The Aswang turned, bullets throwing sparks around its torso when they hit armor plates instead of flesh.

Mr. Berde rose up, firing a pair of shots at the head of the creature. Ducking out of the path of the bullets, the Aswang surged forward by crawling on the ground with its arm and legs, speeding towards him. Clumsily, Mr. Berde was able to vault over a fence and roll out of the path of the Aswang as it barreled through the fence and the walls of a nearby building.

Unfortunately, as he rose, Mr. Berde winced, one hand involuntarily reaching for his chest. Horrified, Jakob called out. "Mr. Berde!" Specs of red began to form on his torso through his clothing. _His wounds from before opened up again!_

Snarling, the Aswang shot out of the ruined building and caught Mr. Berde across the neck with its arm. He flew across the courtyard and smashed into the town hall, falling onto his face. As he lay on the ground coughing, white sparks danced around his body. _His aura is spent!_

Cardin fired more frantically at the Aswang, but it weaved back and forth, avoiding the shots. Howling, it began running towards the town hall.

It was forced to jump away when two figures fell from the sky, trying to impale it with their weapons. Dove and Sky took positions between the monster and the town hall. Russel jumped behind it, daggers extended.

From where he was standing, Jakob could hear the small sigh of relief Cardin made before shouting. "You all took your sweet time getting here!"

There was no response other than Sky nodding in Cardin's general direction. Frowning, Jakob looked more closely at the trio. All three of them seemed exhausted. _They must have been fighting all night…_ A fresh wave of fear washed over him. _What if they can't beat it in their condition?_

As if on que, the Aswang barreled forward, its left arm backhanding Sky across the square. Dove engaged the creature, trying to cut off its arm. Dodging the strike, the Aswang clawed at Dove, forcing him back. Russel jumped at it from behind, landing on its back and stabbing one of his daggers into it.

Howling with pain, the Aswang's wings flailed wildly, trying to beat the intruder off its back. Wincing at each blow, Russel let go of the dagger impaled into the creature's back. With his free hand, he grabbed one of the wings, and in one smooth motion, cut it off.

The creature seemed to go berserk, flailing wildly. Russel was thrown across the clearing, landing in the ruined building from before. Dove sliced a deep gash into the torso of the Aswang, crisscrossing the cut made by Grau earlier. The monster didn't even seem to notice, slashing at Dove and knocking his sword out of his hand. With a single kick, Dove was sent skidding into another building.

Meanwhile, Mr. Berde began stumbling towards the building. Jakob stood at the doorway, ready to help him inside. "Come on! You can make it!"

At the sound of his voice, the Aswang turned towards them, and Jakob froze. _No!_ It opened its mouth, and a long, thin black tongue shot out, wrapping around Mr. Berde's leg.

"Aahhh!" Mr. Berde fell, grabbing at the ground in desperation as he was pulled back. Jakob watched in horror as he was dragged to the entrance of the yard, where he grabbed hold of the sign for the town hall. But his struggle only lasted a few seconds, and with a cry of terror he lost his grip. The Aswang swung its head back, causing Mr. Berde to fly across the clearing towards its waiting jaws.

Jakob ducked inside, unable to bring himself to watch. _This can't be happening…this can't-_ The sickening sound of flesh being torn could be heard, and Jakob shook in disgust and horror. _No…_

However, the cry of pain which followed came from the Aswang, not from Mr. Berde. Hesitantly, Jakob glanced outside. _What happened?_

Mr. Berde was on the ground, the tongue still wrapped around his leg. At least, what was left of it. It had been severed, the Aswang rolling around on the ground in agony as a black fluid sprayed from its mouth. Mr. Berde scrambled away, pausing only to shout out. "Thank you!"

Rose petals fell to the ground as Ruby glared at the Grimm in front of her. Rising, the Aswang clawed furiously in her direction, but she simply stepped to the side. With a single stroke, Ruby cut the creature's remaining wing off, causing it to screech. In its pain-induced rage, the Aswang lunged towards Ruby again.

Pinning Crescent Rose into the ground, Ruby used it as leverage to vault over the Aswang. Pommel horsing around the shaft, Ruby brought her foot down on the Aswang's head, pinning it to the ground. Reaching for the dagger Russel had stuck in its back, she activated the dust imbued in the weapon, sending a bout of flame down the creature's back. Frantically, the Aswang pushed up on the ground, trying to rise.

Ruby stumbled back, momentarily thrown off balance by the wild thrashing of the Grimm under her feet. Regaining its footing with unnatural speed, the Aswang sliced at Ruby's stomach, knocking her to the ground. She hit the ground with a yelp, not rising right away even as the Aswang stalked towards her.

Jakob gasped. _No! I can't just let her die!_ Looking around, he noticed Mr. Berde's rifle lay a few yards away from the town hall entrance. Sprinting out, he grabbed it and took aim.

Howling in triumph, the Aswang made to attack again. Jakob pulled the trigger, firing a shot which ricocheted off the Aswang's torso. The recoil of the shot knocked him off his feet, and he landed with his back on the stairs, wincing at the impact. His aura prevented any significant damage from the fall however.

The Aswang had turned to regard him now, baleful red eyes scanning him almost with idle curiosity. Jakob stared back, taking aim once more from his position on the ground. The Aswang turned its head back and forth, looking at both Ruby and Jakob, as if uncertain which of them it was going to finish. That moment of hesitation proved to be fatal. Another shot rang out, and the Aswang cried out, the bullet tearing through its knee. Through the window, Jakob could see Cardin's grim satisfaction as he lowered his own weapon. "Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" he called out triumphantly.

Unable to stand on its left leg anymore, the Aswang fell to one knee. Ruby vaulted to her feet, jumping behind the Grimm. Extending Crescent Rose, Ruby positioned the blade at the Aswang's neck. "It's over." Ruby said in an uncharacteristically cold tone. From his viewpoint, Jakob could see a sudden shift in the eyes of the Aswang.

With a single shot, the Aswang's head detached from its body. As Ruby turned, flourishing her scythe and stabbing it into the ground, the Grimm began to dissipate into darkness.

Jakob stared at the Grimm as it disintegrated. He should have felt relief, felt like celebrating now that the whole ordeal was finally over. Perhaps he could have felt some vestige of pride, having helped in some small way to bring the Aswang down once and for all.

And later, he would feel all these things and more. But right now, Jakob was simply trying to process what he had seen. _When Ruby spoke…was that FEAR on the face of the Aswang?_

* * *

Ruby collapsed to the ground, her grip on Crescent Rose weakening. _We did it._ The thought did not bring her as much satisfaction as she might have hoped.

In the end, four villagers were still dead. One was severely injured. There was a lot of damage to the town. And as for them…Ruby turned to see Russel limping across the clearing towards her. Raising her arm, Ruby weakly attempted to hand him his dagger. "…sorry about…the dust."

Russel grunted. "Would have been more expensive if we all died, so can't complain." He took the dagger from her and sat down on a nearby bench. Dove was helping Sky across the clearing, Sky wincing each time he put his weight on his right leg. Dove hadn't gotten off scot free either, a wound on his right arm bled and he winced every time he tried to use it.

Another groan from behind them alerted them to Grau's presence. His armor was cracked, and he sat down heavily on the ground nearby. "I take it you were able to kill it at last."

Sky held a thumb up as he lay down on the ground. Ruby looked around at all of them, and then at Cardin from the window he was sitting at. Jakob had gotten up at last, and seemed to be headed inside to inform the villagers of their success. All of them had been battered and bruised from the experience. Cardin would take several weeks to get back on his feet, and the rest of them were not…without…

Suddenly, Ruby began to feel a bit light headed. Sitting up, she felt a spike of pain from her abdomen. Reaching down with one hand, she lifted it up to find blood.

Grau noticed it too. Waving over at the crowd emerging from the town hall, he shouted hoarsely "We need a doctor over here!"

The doctor came over to her, and waved at a group of villagers coming out of the town hall. "We'll need a stretcher over here!" Pushing Ruby down onto the ground, the doctor ignored her weak protest and began to examine the wound. "It looks like a rather nasty gash…but it doesn't seem too deep. It didn't hit anything vital." Turning to the rest of the group, he continued. "I'll need to treat Mr. Berde and Ruby first, but the rest of you should come as well. I'll see to it that you all get proper care."

The words barely registered with Ruby. At this point, she was too tired to even try to crawl onto the stretcher being laid down next to her. Vaguely, she felt herself being hoisted up onto the stretcher by a couple villagers. As the stretcher was lifted and carried towards the doctor's home, Ruby simply closed her eyes and let sleep take her.

* * *

 **The Aswang has finally fallen. Sorry about taking so long to get this chapter out, it was kicking my ass. I was having more trouble than usual trying to get this chapter to read like I wanted it to read. In the end, I think it turned out alright.**

 **There remains one more chapter of Dead Men's Tales, where it will all wrap up. So many small things have changed since my original plan for this story, but I think these changes were for the better. Warning, next chapter will likely have a pretty long AN at the end haha.**

 **By the way, I'm absolutely loving the new Grimm in Volume 4. Between the Beringel, the Geist, the Seer, the Sea Dragon, we've been getting spoiled with all these new monsters. And the latest episode, we get a real terror XD. Many people seem to think it is based on the Nuckelavee, a Scottish demon that's generally depicted as a horse with a human torso growing out of its back. Look it up, it's pretty scary looking.**

 **It's really cool to see a Grimm with slight humanoid features. I figured we would see something like that, and it kind of validates my own Grimm design for the Aswang. Given that Roosterteeth dug pretty deep for the Nuckelavee, who knows? Maybe we will see an Aswang Grimm in the actual show someday haha. It probably won't be the same as my design, but that would be pretty cool regardless.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, leave a review, follow, and/or favorite!**


	15. With Every End, A Beginning

Dead Men's Tales

* * *

 **Hello! I'm deeply sorry for the delay in getting this final chapter out. Most of that can be attributed to the fact that I have recently graduated from college! Let's get right into it.**

* * *

The cold air assailed Jakob as he stood, hammering nails into a board to keep it in place. Repairs for the village had been underway for the past few weeks, with all the able-bodied villagers doing their part to bring it all together. Pulling out a nail that had gone in wrong, Jakob replaced it and stepped back. Satisfied with the series of repairs on that wall, Jakob shivered and decided it was time to head inside.

As he was walking into the town hall, Mr. Berde was on his way out. "Ah, well met Jakob! How are you doing on this fine day!" His injuries had almost completely healed, thanks to the effects of aura. The only remaining hint that he had been injured was the occasional wince when something prodded his chest. He had reassured them all that it was simply the memory rather than any physical issues however, and the doctors had confirmed this.

"I'm doing alright." Jakob chuckled. "Aside from how cold it is." The temperatures had begun to drop, the first snowfall was expected any day now.

Mr. Berde laughed. "Being able to feel the cold at all seems like a blessing after that whole debacle." His expression grew solemn for a moment, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Four of the villagers would never feel the weather again. The smile quickly returned, however. "Well, those buildings won't repair themselves! Enjoy your break, my boy!" He sauntered off outside, nodding to the Atlas soldiers standing on guard.

A few days after the Aswang had been killed, reinforcements from Beacon had arrived, including a troop of soldiers and a repair team to service the turrets. On Grau's request, the turrets were being relocated closer to the village, with barricades set up to make them more defendable. Many villagers had objected to this, but Mrs. Sininen had conceded.

" _For too long have we remained detached from the defense of our village, it's about time we begin to take it into our own hands." She folded her arms and stared down the dissenters, villagers whom had never had to fight for their lives until just recently. "This is the least we can do for ourselves."_

In his free time, Mr. Berde had begun training young men and women in the village in marksmanship and basic close range combat, to form an impromptu militia. Some of the soldiers from Altas assisted him from time to time a well. Neither Mr. Berde nor the soldiers knew how to unlock auras manually, but with enough training the villagers should be able to unlock it themselves. Cardin had told Jakob that the art of unlocking auras was generally a pretty rare trait. The chant which Cardin had used was passed down from his family for generations, and there were several others just like it out there.

Glancing down at his arm, Jakob could just barely make out the sheen of his own aura. It wasn't noticeable unless you focused on it like he was right now. Jakob practically forgot he had it most of the time, except when he accidently hit his thumb with a hammer and didn't bruise it, or in similar circumstances. Not that it wasn't still painful- Grau had been there at the time, and had commented on the fact. Apparently, the theory was that even if the blow was blocked by aura, it was still like taking an injury to the energy of the soul. Though some might complain, this was incredibly useful, since a huntsman or huntress would need to be aware of when they were in danger of their aura depleting.

Grau, along with Team CRDL, had left just a few days ago. Cardin had been pretty close to being able to walk again, with aura once again proving its worth in healing properties. He had gruffly told Jakob to check the mail, which had been a puzzling statement to leave on. Cardin didn't strike Jakob as the type to write letters, after all.

At least Jakob had the chance to say thank you to them. That was more than he had when it came to Ruby. She had been injured, and was being treated after the battle. Jakob had been exhausted from the events of that day, and had retired rather early to sleep. The next morning, Jakob went to see how she was doing, only to find that she had disappeared.

No one seemed to have any idea where Ruby had gone, except for Team CRDL. Cardin said that she had simply departed early that morning, and didn't want to worry any of them. A pit settled in Jakob's stomach. _I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye, or to thank her for everything she's done._

"Jakob!" Looking up, Jakob saw his mother running towards him with an envelope in her hand, an excited look on her face. "You just got a letter!"

 _Cardin said to check the mail…is this it?_ Jakob took the letter from his mother, unsure why she was so excited. It was from a Taiyang Xiao Long? Then he saw something else. _The insignia of Signal!_

Opening it, Jakob read through the contents. _No way…_ It was an invitation to Signal! Did Cardin pull some strings for him? The semester wouldn't start for a little while yet, but Jakob couldn't help but pump his fist in excitement.

His mother seemed equally excited. "This is such a great opportunity for you! I'm so proud of you Jakob!"

Even as his mother enveloped him in a hug and he muttered out thanks, Jakob's mind was miles away. _I'll be able to train at Signal and become a huntsman! I can travel the world, helping people like we were helped! And someday…_

 _I might even run into Ruby, and be able to thank her for everything she's done_.

* * *

Russel grunted as they all set their packs down in the crowded room. "You sure about this Cardin?"

Cardin nodded. "It's better than just sitting around in Vale doing nothing." Out the window, the ocean could be seen, as the ship they were on took off from port.

Sky Lark was perusing a travel itinerary. "Going all the way to Vacuo, on the off chance that something is happening there and that we might be able to help? Seems like a long shot."

Dove leaned back against the wall and chuckled. "No one said we weren't crazy."

Cardin chuckled, before carefully laying down in a hammock. His leg was almost completely healed, but it would likely take another week or so before he was in full fighting condition again. _Just in time for our arrival._ As the rest of his team settled down in the room, Cardin thought back to the village of Alaala.

" _You don't have to see me off, you know." Ruby sounded somewhat amused._

" _And you don't have to be running off before anyone wakes up either." Cardin retorted, moving along on his crutches. "I just don't want to owe you any more than I have to, got it?"_

 _Ruby simply shrugged. They were almost at the edge of the woods leading out of the village, with the rest of CRDL following behind in case they were attacked. Ruby had simply told them to take the reward for themselves, and was about to leave on her own. Cardin had none of that, and insisted that he and his team see her off._

 _A thought occurred to Cardin, and he turned to Ruby. "Your dad is a teacher at Signal, right? I thought I heard that somewhere."_

" _Yeah, he is." Ruby turned to him with a questioning look. "Why?"_

" _Jakob wanted to be a huntsman, but it's going to be hard for him to apply with the CCT down. Could you put in a good word for him, or something?" Cardin looked away at the last minute, almost embarrassed to be asking. A slight giggle from Ruby only made it worse, and he growled as his face turned bright red._

" _Sure! I'll make sure to do it before heading off to Hav-" Ruby cut herself off at the last moment, but it was too late._

" _Haven?" Dove blinked. "Why are you heading there? Transferring schools or something?"_

" _Not really." The five of them reached the edge of the woods, and Ruby turned and nodded to each of them. "Just want to make sure what happens to Beacon doesn't happen anywhere else."_

Cardin nodded. _It makes sense. Whoever instigated that incident was clearly targeting the school._ Maybe it was foolish to assume that any of them could make a difference, but Cardin couldn't help but feel a tad inspired by Ruby's determination. Perhaps he even felt a bit competitive about the matter. _If she thinks she can make a difference, well we aren't going to let her take all the glory._

* * *

Lost in her thoughts, Ruby wandered the woods, with Zwei following close behind her. Her wounds were nearly healed, although she was wary just the same. You never could drop your guard in the woods, even on so small a place as Patch.

Her father had been incredibly concerned when she returned, and had made her promise not to go off like that again. It did make her feel guilty, knowing that in a few weeks she intended to do just that. _It has to be done…if there is anything I can do to help, I need to go and do it._

But first, there was something she needed to do. Zwei's bark made her look up, to find that she had arrived. A small shrine made of simple wood sat in the middle of a clearing. It was a simple memorial for huntsmen who had died in action. A long time ago, Ruby had visited this place with her family to carve the name of her mother into the side.

Today…Ruby was here for another reason.

* * *

Before even entering the clearing proper, Ruby walked around the outside to a small section that was slightly obscured by foliage. Reaching into her pack, she withdrew a small stone and placed it on the ground there.

A moment passed. "Hi there." Ruby winced slightly. "I can't imagine you would be happy to hear from me. But I need to say a few things."

Standing up, Ruby continued to address the small grave. "For a while, I never understood why your…loss affected me the way it did. You were my enemy, someone who actively placed the lives of innocents in danger."

"But I get it now. Before all this happened, I wished to be a hero, just like the ones in the stories" Ruby looked down in shame. "And every hero in the stories had a villain. I guess I started to feel like you were some sort of arch-enemy."

Half-heartedly, Ruby chuckled. "I bet you would have laughed at that, maybe called me an idiot. And you were right, I was an idiot." Her eyes hardened. "You weren't some fated rival for my story. You were just a bad man, someone who had made the wrong decisions and hurt the innocent."

Clenching her fist, Ruby continued. "Maybe you were right, the world doesn't care about spirit. It won't care that I'm trying to save it. But if I don't try to save it, then who will?" Turning her back to the stone, she began walking away.

But before leaving that corner, Ruby turned back one more time. "I'm sorry that I couldn't save you, that you had to die like you did. But you made your choices, and I'm making mine." Her voice faltered for a moment, but her determination shone through as she continued. "Perhaps one day my choices will lead to my end as well, but unlike you, I'm willing to accept that."

"I've got bigger baddies to take down now, Torchwick. I'll become bigger than you ever were, and stop them like I promised." Ruby walked towards the center of the clearing. The stone lay there, a simple hat carved into it. A small monument, off towards the side, to remember the legacy of a man who strayed down the wrong path, and the lessons Ruby had learned from her fight with him.

* * *

Reaching the shrine, Ruby sighed. She felt better already, but Roman had been the easy part of all of this.

"Hey Penny." Ruby paused. "Hi Pyrrha."

The silence of the clearing seemed almost deafening for a moment before she continued, weakly. "I hope you guys are doing well." Another awkward silence permeated the clearing as Ruby stood there.

"I'm sorry." Looking up, Ruby felt her eyes beginning to tear up. "I wasn't able to save you guys either."

"I keep wondering if I could have saved you guys, had I been just a bit faster." If she had been able to get past Mercury sooner, or get to Beacon tower more quickly…

"I miss both of you." The tears flowed freely down Ruby's face now. "Penny, I miss all the awkward moments we used to have. How excited you used to get whenever you experienced something new. All your hugs, even if they hurt." Wiping away her tears, she continued. "And Pyrrha, I miss your loyalty to your friends, to Jaune and the rest of us. How you apologized all the time, worried that you'd hurt us even with the smallest mistakes. How you always strived for perfection, and inspired the rest of us to do the same."

Drawing a knife, Ruby began slowly carving into the shrine at the bottom of the list. "I'd always known that there was a chance I could go on a mission and never come back. That's what happened to my mom, after all. But until that day, it never really hit me that I wasn't the only one who could be lost. The friends I make…all of them could die at any moment."

Finishing up, Ruby sheathed the knife. "But I won't let that stop me. The people who were behind the attack on Beacon are still out there." Her fists clenched, Ruby's eyes filled with anger. "And they'll continue to hurt people until they get what they want."

"In a few weeks, I'll be leaving to go to Haven Academy. I'll find them there, and I'll stop them from hurting anyone else." Glancing downward uncertainly, Ruby continued "I hope that Jaune and the others will come…but if they can't then I'll be making the journey alone."

Picking up her pack, Ruby turned to the shrine one last time. "Goodbye Penny, goodbye Pyrrha. I hope you guys are getting along well together." She walked towards the edge of the clearing, where Zwei waited. Barking once, he began to lead the way back. Ruby followed along absently.

* * *

Ruby did feel better, though still not entirely at ease. _I can look forward now…but what awaits me?_ The enemies she would face at Haven would not be easy foes. And Ruby might even have to face them on her own. _Who knows if Jaune will want anything to do with me…after I failed to save Pyrrha_.

"Ruby! You got a letter!" Taiyang's voice broke through Ruby's thoughts, and she blinked, realizing that she had walked through the door of their cabin without even noticing.

"From whom?"

Taiyang held the letter out to her. "Someone named Jaune. Friend of yours?"

Ruby's heart skipped a beat, and she could feel the nerves gathering as she took the letter. _What did he write?_

Taiyang seemed to pick up on her sudden anxiety, and a grin appeared on his face. "Is this some boy you've got a crush on or something? You look like you're about to run from that letter!"

Chuckling nervously, Ruby shook her head. "No, just a friend." _I hope he's still my friend…_

"Riiight. Well, I'll leave you to it!" Taiyang chuckled as he walked away.

On any other day, Ruby might have been embarrassed by her dad's insinuations. But right now, she simply tore open the envelop, taking out the letter.

The handwriting was terrible, Ruby noted. But just reading through the first few lines of the letter, her mind was set at ease. _Jaune doesn't blame me...and he's bringing Ren and Nora to help get to Haven!_

Though it didn't entirely set things right, Ruby couldn't help but feel better than she had in a while. Weiss and Blake were gone, and Yang had been so distant since that day. Knowing that she wouldn't be facing Haven alone made her feel like anything was possible.

 _We will avenge you Penny and Pyrrha. Just you wait!_

* * *

Ironwood reviewed the final set of documents lying on the desk, affixing his signature to them. "Well, that's the last of those. Is there anything else you wanted to add for the official report?"

Grau nodded. "I'd like for the other Grimm Studies Specialists to review similar locations with mythological references to monsters."

Ironwood frowned, typing into a scroll. "You think something similar could happen elsewhere?"

"I think it's more than likely." Bringing up something on his own scroll, Grau continued. "When they become intelligent enough, Grimm tend to avoid direct confrontation if it would result in their immediate demise. More ancient Grimm have a tendency towards hibernation even." Placing the scroll on the desk, Grau brought up a holographic image of the Aswang. "With the Grimm Dragon's awakening, as well as the events at Beacon, I imagine that many other sleeping legends will begin to show themselves."

"Very well." Ironwood placed his scroll next to Grau's. The two of them began blinking as data was transferred between the two. "How is your weapon doing?"

Grimacing, Grau leaned back. "Not well. It took a real beating against the Aswang, and many parts were lost in the battle. It'll take weeks before it'll be fixed." Standing up, Grau reached out and shook Ironwood's hand. "I'll likely use a standard issue rifle for the time being."

A surprised look on his face, Ironwood picked up his scroll. "You're heading out into the field again so soon? Shouldn't you wait for your own weapon to be fixed at least?"

Reaching out, Grau took his scroll as well. "I would rather check this out sooner rather than later. There is an area on the continent of Anima which suffered unusual Grimm activity a while ago, before going dormant. I suspect that there will be trouble once more." Flexing his arm, Grau sighed. "I'm not much of a fighter anyways, so not having my weapon won't make much of a difference. I have no intention of doing anything reckless."

Sighing, Ironwood made a quick note on his scroll. "I'll make sure to let the Grimm Studies division know. Just be careful."

"Don't worry, I'm just going to gather information. I'll be careful." As Grau walked towards the entrance, he chuckled.

"After all, dead men tell no tales."

* * *

 **And finally, almost a year later, I finish my first story. Funny to think I had initially intended for this story to be finished before the start of Volume 4.**

 **I'd like to thank everyone who continued to follow this story to the very end, despite the delays. There weren't a lot of you, but I always enjoyed hearing what you thought of each chapter! In writing Dead Men's Tales, I feel I made some mistakes here and there, but in the end I'm more or less happy with the end product. I hope you all enjoyed this story, and feel free to let me know what you thought of it!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


End file.
